Delhi Air Quality Returns to 'Very Poor' Category: AQI Rises to 304 After Brief Improvement

Delhi's air quality deteriorated back to the 'very poor' category on Monday, with an AQI of 304, following a brief improvement to 'poor' on Sunday.

New Delhi has returned to its prolonged winter pollution crisis after experiencing just one day of relatively better air quality.

After 24 consecutive days in the 'very poor' air quality range, Delhi had briefly improved to a 'poor' reading of 279 on Sunday, offering temporary relief to residents.

By Monday afternoon at 4 pm, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data confirmed the 24-hour average AQI had worsened to 304, placing the capital back in the 'very poor' category.

According to CPCB classifications, air quality is considered 'good' between 0-50, 'satisfactory' between 51-100, 'moderate' between 101-200, 'poor' between 201-300, 'very poor' between 301-400, and 'severe' when exceeding 401.

Transport-related emissions contributed significantly to Delhi's pollution, accounting for 20 percent on Monday, with projections indicating a similar contribution of 19.8 percent expected for Tuesday, as reported by the Decision Support System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

Prior to Sunday's improvement, Delhi had not experienced 'poor' category air quality since November 5, when the AQI was recorded at 202.

The recent AQI readings show a fluctuating but concerning pattern: 279 on Sunday, 305 on Saturday, 369 on Friday, 377 on Thursday, 327 on Wednesday, 352 on Tuesday, and 382 on Monday of the previous week.

The CPCB's Sameer app indicated that no monitoring stations in Delhi recorded 'severe' air quality on Monday, continuing the trend observed over the weekend. This marks an improvement from Friday when eight stations had fallen into the 'severe' zone.

November's average AQI was 357, firmly in the 'very poor' range, though slightly better than readings of 374 in 2024 and 366 in 2023. The month saw no days with 'good', 'satisfactory', or 'moderate' air quality, instead recording three days of 'poor', 24 days of 'very poor', and three days of 'severe' air quality.

Simultaneously, winter conditions have intensified in the capital, with Monday's minimum temperature dropping to 5.7 degrees Celsius, 4.6 degrees below the seasonal normal.

The maximum temperature reached 26.1 degrees Celsius, slightly above the seasonal average, while humidity levels fluctuated between 63 percent and 100 percent throughout the day.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a cold wave for Tuesday without issuing any warnings, with expected maximum and minimum temperatures around 26 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius, respectively.