Delhi air quality remains 'very poor'; rain likely to bring some relief

New Delhi, Jan 04: Delhi's remained in the "very poor" category on Tuesday, but rain expected in the next couple of days are likely to bring some improvement.

The city's Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 369 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR. Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

An AQI between 101 and 200 is "moderate", between 201 and 300 "poor", between 301 and 400 "very poor" and over 400 "severe".

The government's air quality forecast agency SAFAR on Monday said the AQI will continue to remain very poor on Tuesday. "High winds and intermittent rains are likely during January 5 to January 8 that are expected to improve AQI significantly to 'lower end of very poor' through strong dispersion and wet deposition. Mixing layer height continues to be about 1 km," it said.

The weather office has forecast partly cloudy sky with shallow fog for Tuesday morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 22 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.