New Delhi:
The national capital recorded its air quality in the “moderate” category on Saturday, and favourable ventilation conditions will keep it that way for next two days, a government forecasting agency said.
Delhi recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 165, which falls in the “moderate” category. It was 134 on Friday.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
The Ministry of Earth Science’s air quality monitor, SAFAR, said dust from arid regions in the southwest has started affecting Delhi.
“A marginal increase in farm fires was observed on Friday,” it said.
However, high surface winds and favourable ventilation conditions are expected to keep Delhi’s AQI in the moderate category for the next two days, it said.
Pawan Gupta, a senior scientist at Universities Space Research Association, NASA, said satellites detected around 280 fires in Punjab on Saturday.
He said the dust transport from the west is also expected to affect air quality in northern-central India over the next two days.
