New Delhi: The national Capital’s air quality showed slight improvement on Friday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 183, placing it in the ‘moderate’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Delhi had registered a ‘poor’ AQI of 209 on Thursday and 294 on Wednesday morning.
As per CPCB data, several monitoring stations across the city continued to record moderate to poor air quality levels. Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 236, Bawana 215, Chandni Chowk 176, DTU 202, Dwarka Sector-8 194, IGI Airport (T3) 144, Jahangirpuri 252, Mandir Marg 145, Mundka 237, Narela 229, Okhla Phase-2 180, Patparganj 193, Pusa 209, R.K. Puram 199, Rohini 232, Shadipur 261, Sonia Vihar 211, Vivek Vihar 211 and Wazirpur 215.
Meanwhile, the national Capital recorded a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius around 7 a.m., with humidity at 95 per cent, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
As per AQI classification, a reading between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
Delhi has been witnessing warmer afternoons over the past few days, though light mist during the early hours continues to bring a chill in the mornings. With daytime temperatures gradually rising, the national Capital appears to be moving out of the harsher phase of winter. According to the IMD, the minimum temperature is expected to hover around 11 degrees Celsius, while the maximum may climb to 27 degrees Celsius on Friday.
Unlike Thursday’s clear skies, Delhi is likely to wake up to mist, followed by partly cloudy conditions later in the day.
The IMD said skies will remain mainly clear on February 14 and 15. It also forecast partly cloudy skies on February 13 and 16, while generally cloudy conditions are expected on February 17 and 18.
Temperatures are likely to remain largely unchanged this week, with warmer days ahead and misty mornings continuing.
Meanwhile, air quality data has triggered a political debate in the capital. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) questioned the BJP-led government’s decision to install six new AQI monitoring stations in green and open areas.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the move was aimed at artificially lowering pollution readings rather than addressing the root causes of air pollution.
In a post on X, Bharadwaj claimed that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s government had shifted new AQI monitoring stations to green and open areas to present an artificially lower pollution reading. He alleged that instead of curbing pollution at its source, the BJP government was attempting to improve air quality data “on paper”.
He further alleged that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had remained silent on the issue, claiming that its officers are appointed by the Central Government. The Delhi government has not responded to the allegations yet.
(IANS)
