Delhi air pollution worsened on Wednesday as the city’s average Air Quality Index rose to 313, placing it in the very poor category, while 22 new pollution hotspots were identified in a report issued by the Centre for Science and Environment. The deterioration came even as temperatures fell below 15 degrees Celsius for the first time this season.
The Central Pollution Control Board recorded Delhi’s average AQI at 313, 14 points higher than Tuesday’s reading of 299, which was in the poor category. The air quality in the Delhi Technological University area was the worst among the city’s monitored locations, crossing 400 on Wednesday evening and entering the severe category.
The rise followed a brief period of improvement in Delhi’s air quality. According to the report issued by the Centre for Science and Environment, older pollution hotspots appeared to be showing some improvement, but new hotspots were developing at a faster pace. The report identified 22 locations where pollution hotspots were emerging.
The weather also turned cooler across the capital. At the Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s maximum temperature was recorded at 30.6 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees above normal, while the minimum temperature was 14.8 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees above normal. This was the first time this season that the minimum temperature fell below 15 degrees Celsius.
Light fog covered several parts of Delhi on Wednesday morning, reducing visibility to 800 metres from 1,200 metres a day earlier. The decline of 400 metres coincided with lower wind speeds, a condition linked in the report to the renewed increase in pollution levels.
The weather department has forecast a maximum temperature of 27 to 29 degrees Celsius and a minimum temperature of 15 to 17 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Light fog is expected in the morning, with partly cloudy conditions during the day. The CPCB said pollution was likely to persist over the next two days because of different weather-related factors.
Delhi was also among the most polluted cities in the country on Wednesday. The CPCB’s air-quality bulletin ranked it seventh among 284 cities, with an AQI of 313. Sirsa in Haryana recorded the highest AQI at 369, followed by Hisar at 361, Panchgaon at 339, Ballabhgarh at 328, Bhiwani at 326 and Gopalganj at 319. The rankings showed that high pollution levels remained concentrated across several cities in northern India.
