Delhi air pollution crisis: AQI remains very poor; 4 areas slip into ‘severe’ zone, Narela worst at 418

NEW DELHI: Delhi on Monday woke up to hazy skies, with overall air quality in the 'very poor' category, while four areas of the city recorded severe AQI levels.According to the Central Pollution Control Board website, Narela recorded an AQI of 418, followed by Bawana (408), Wazirpur (403) and Anand Vihar (402) at 7.20 am.

A day earlier, air quality in the national capital was also recorded in the very poor category on Sunday morning, with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 377, as per CPCB data.As per CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51–100 satisfactory, 101–200 moderate, 201–300 poor, 301–400 very poor, and 401–500 severe.The Met department issued a yellow alert (be aware) for moderate fog at most places and dense fog at isolated areas in the city in the early morning hours of Monday. Moderate to shallow fog is likely from Tuesday to Thursday. Though IMD earlier forecast that ‘cold day’ conditions was likely to prevail in isolated areas in Delhi, no station met the criterion on Sunday. Safdarjung (16.9 degrees Celsius) and Palam (16.3) reeled under cold day conditions on Saturday.A ‘cold day’ is declared in Delhi when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees C and the departure of maximum from the normal is 4.5 notches or more.

As the sun briefly came out on Sunday, the day temperature gradually started rising. The maximum was recorded at 18.1 degrees C, four notches below normal, compared to 16.9 degrees C on Saturday. The day temperature is expected to rise to around 20-22 degrees C on Monday.The minimum temperature stood at 9.4 degrees C, one notch above normal. It was 6.1 degrees C a day ago. The minimum is likely to remain around 9 degrees C on Monday.(With agency inputs)