Delhi's air quality remains in 'severe' category for third consecutive day

New Delhi, Nov 8: The air quality in many parts of New Delhi continues to be in the 'severe category' for the third consecutive day, said the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Monday.

According to the SAFAR, the air quality index (AQI) stood at 432 on Monday morning. The AQI has remained in the 'severe' category because of the large influx of stubble-related pollutants which appears to be due to the much higher effective fire count observed than that assumed in the SAFAR model for forecasting, it said in its daily bulletin.

It has predicted AQI to improve but stays in the high end of the 'very poor' to the 'severe' category in the next two days.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, and 401-500 are marked as severe/hazardous, as per the SAFAR. On Sunday at pm, the city recorded an AQI of 436 (severe category).

The SAFAR further claims that Delhi University's North Campus area recorded an AQI of 466, Pusa road reported an AQI of 427, IIT Delhi registered an AQI of 441, and Lodhi road area reported an AQI of 432.

It has advised people to avoid all outdoor physical activities and move to indoor activities and urged asthma patients to keep relief medicine handy. With inputs from agency