Delhi recorded its first poor air quality day of the season on Wednesday morning, with a layer of haze covering parts of the city following overnight Dussehra celebrations.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city’s AQI reached 238 at 10 am on October 21. The CAQM’s order recorded an AQI of 244 at 2 pm, compared with 179 a day earlier.
The rise pushed Delhi’s air quality from the moderate to the poor category. The city had largely remained in the moderate band during October, with light rain on October 12 and 16 helping improve conditions.
Delhi’s AQI stood at 187 on October 18 before falling to 139 on October 19. It then rose to 179 on Tuesday afternoon, followed by Wednesday’s sharp increase.
The deterioration also brought some monitoring stations into the very poor category. CPCB data from 56 of Delhi’s 59 monitoring stations showed AQI readings of 308 at Jahangirpuri and 314 at Pusa. Meanwhile, 16 stations, including Anand Vihar, continued to record moderate air quality.