Delhiites wake up to hazardous air, AQI crosses 400 at 27 stations

Delhi woke up to choking air on Tuesday morning as thick fog and haze engulfed the city, with AQI levels crossing 400 (severe category) at 27 monitoring stations and several others slipping into the 'severe plus' range, exposing residents to extremely hazardous pollution.

At 9 am on Tuesday, the city recorded an AQI of 415, slipping from the 'very poor' category a day earlier, as pollution levels continued their upward climb, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Out of 40 monitoring stations, 27 recorded severe air quality with AQI readings above 400, a level known to have serious health impacts.

Five stations were in the 'severe plus' category with AQI readings above 450, with Anand Vihar recording an AQI of 470, Nehru Nagar (463), Okhla (459), Mundka (459) and Sirifort (450), as per data from the CPCB's SAMEER app.

According to the CPCB standards, an AQI from 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.

On the weather front, dense fog led to a sharp drop in visibility, with Palam recording 50 metres visibility under dense fog conditions with west-southwesterly winds at 5 kmph at 8 am, while Safdarjung reported 100 metres visibility with calm winds at the same time.

Visibility improved slightly by 8.30 am, with Palam recording 100 metres visibility under dense fog with west-southwesterly winds at 5 kmph and Safdarjung reporting 150 metres visibility with calm winds.

Delhi's minimum temperature dropped to 8.8 degrees Celsius, which is 1.3 degrees above normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 23 degrees Celsius, with the forecast indicating dense fog conditions during the day.