India: Delhi's chilling temperatures making air quality worse as AQI remains 'very poor'

Indian capital city of Delhi on Wednesday (Dec 13) recorded the worst air quality for December with a 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 378, a number that demonstrates "very poor" air quality, media reports said citing official figures.According to the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), few areas in Delhi were in the "severe" air quality category.

AQI is a scale to measure the level of air pollution in any given region. AQI is considered to be in the "good" category if it remains between 0 and 50. Additionally, between 51 and 100 is"satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", 401 and 450 "severe", and above 450 is "severe-plus" category, representing the highest level of pollution on the measuring scale.

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With winter temperatures continuing to soar, the pollution levels are also rising. After the rains on December 3, there was a brief improvement in pollution levels in parts of Delhi. However, since then the AQI has remained in the "very poor" or "severe" category.

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December 13 was the 7th straight day when the AQI was on the"very poor" scale. It was 355, which is "very poor", on Tuesday (December 12).

Chilling temperatures and calm winds

The temperatures in Delhi have been gradually decreasing. Cold temperatures compounded with calm winds have been a contributing factor in the deteriorating air quality in the capital city.

The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 6.5°C on December 11. This was a further drop from the 8.3 degrees Celsius which was recorded on Sunday (Dec 10). The temperature was 9.2°C on Saturday (Dec 9).

As per Met officials quoted by media reports, the wind speeds are expected to pick up on Thursday (Dec 14) to 20km/hour. This, according to the officials, will help in containing the deteriorating air quality.

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Delhi also recorded fog on Wednesday (Dec 13), due to which the visibility remained at its lowest levels at around 600 metres.

“The maximum wind speed was 8-10 km/hour during the day, but this will almost double, touching around 20 km/hour during the day on Thursday,” a scientist at the India Meteorological Department, Kuldeep Srivastava, said.

(With inputs from agencies)