Delhi’s AQI sustains improvement, remains at ‘poor’ category, GRAP curbs lifted

Delhi’s air quality remained in ‘poor’ category on Tuesday after improving from ‘very poor’ the day before. An overall AQI of 221 was recorded in the national capital this morning, with several recording stations of the Centre of Pollution Control Board (CPCB) having air levels in the “moderate” category.

At the time of writing this report, the temperature of the national capital was at 18.4 degrees Celsius as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded at 277 at 9am, 264 in Dilshad Garden, 200 in the IGI Airport, at 173 in ITO, and at 216 at Okhla Phase 2.

In Gurugram, the AQI was recorded at 188 in the ‘moderate’ category at 9am in Sector 51 at 9am, at 244 in Teri Gram and at 179 in Vikas Sadan. In Noida also the AQI sustained the improvement, with it being at 181 at 9am in Sector 125, at 252 in Sector 62, at 156 in Sector 1, and at 174 in Sector 116.

An AQI from 0 to 100 is considered to be good, while from 100 to 200 it is seen as moderate, from 200 to 300 as poor, from 300 to 400 it is said to be very poor and between 400 and 500 or above it is considered as severe.

The curbs restricted in Delhi-NCR under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) were lifted on Monday following improvement in the air quality to ‘poor’ category after nearly a week. The CAQM pointed out that Delhi’s AQI on Monday at 294 was about 100 points below the threshold for invoking GRAP stage 3 actions.

The CAQM review panel said that the improvement in Delhi-NCR’s AQI is expected to sustain, and it will monitor the situation again on November 18, news agency PTI reported.

The restrictions under stage 3 of GRAP was in place since October 29.

The lifting of curbs means construction and demolition activities can resume in Delhi-NCR. However, user agencies need to strictly adhere to dust control norms.

The IMD, meanwhile, has forecast that cold northwesterly winds blowing towards Delhi will make cause the capital’s minimum temperature to dip to 10 degrees Celsius by Saturday.

According to the long-period average (LPA), the average normal minimum temperature for Delhi between November 12 and 16 is 13.6 degrees Celsius. Between November 17 and 21, it is 12.4 degrees, from November 22 and 26 it is 11.3 degrees, and between November 27-30, it is 9.9 degrees.

Last year, the mercury dipped further during the above-mentioned time periods with it being at 9.2 degrees Celsius on November 24. In 2021, the minimum temperature went even lower to 6.3 degrees Celsius on November 23.