Toxic Smog Turns Delhi-NCR Into A Gas Chamber

The air quality in several areas of Delhi was recorded in the ''severe'' category on Saturday morning while the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 16.6 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average, officials said.

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 407 at 9 am.

The AQI at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range and Shadipur was recorded at 453. It was 448 at Anand Vihar, 442 at Wazirpur, 435 at Punjabi Bagh, 434 at Bawana, 432 at Okhla and 431 at R K Puram, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The air quality in other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) was also similar to the city. The AQI in Ghaziabad was recorded at 377. It was 490 at Greater Noida, 449 at Faridabad and 392 at Gurugram, the CPCB said.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ''good'', 51 and 100 ''satisfactory'', 101 and 200 ''moderate'', 201 and 300 ''poor'', 301 and 400 ''very poor'', and 401 and 500 ''severe''.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast shallow fog during the day. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 30 degrees Celsius, it said. The humidity was recorded at 88 per cent at 8.30 am.