Delhi AQI drops to 349, two monitoring stations remain in severe category

Delhi recorded a marginal improvement in air quality on Saturday, with its overall AQI settling at 349. However, pollution remained severe at IIT Delhi and ITO, while several other monitoring stations reported readings in the very poor category

New Delhi: Delhi recorded a marginal improvement in air quality on Saturday, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 349.

However, pollution levels remained elevated across several parts of the national capital, with two monitoring stations reporting readings in the ‘severe’ category.

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The city’s overall AQI remained in the ‘very poor’ category, with PM2.5 and PM10 continuing to be the major pollutants.

The slight improvement came a day after Delhi’s overall AQI crossed the 400-mark, with air quality remaining in the ‘severe’ category for nearly eight hours, from early morning until around noon.

Despite the marginal decline in pollution levels, conditions remained particularly concerning at some locations.

IIT Delhi recorded an AQI of 419, while the ITO monitoring station registered 414, placing both areas in the ‘severe’ category.

Among other monitoring stations across the city, Chandni Chowk reported an AQI of 395, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) at 390 and Anand Vihar at 389.

Rohini recorded an AQI of 366, while Narela registered 359, indicating that pollution levels continued to remain significantly high in these areas as well.

At other locations, Delhi Airport recorded an AQI of 348, while the RK Puram monitoring station registered 315. Although air quality at both locations remained in the ‘very poor’ category, the readings were comparatively lower than the severe pollution levels recorded at IIT Delhi and ITO.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI reading between 301 and 400 is classified as ‘very poor’, while readings ranging from 401 to 500 fall under the ‘severe’ category.

Despite Saturday’s marginal improvement in overall air quality, several locations in the national capital continued to experience high pollution levels.