Delhi's air quality.
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: Delhi's air quality remained in the 'very poor' category for a second consecutive day on Saturday with 16 monitoring stations logging 'severe' AQI, while the minimum temperature dipped to 9.7 degrees Celsius -- the season's lowest so far.
The capital's three-day streak of 'severe' air quality ended on Friday, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 387 in the 'very poor' category.
On Saturday, the 24-hour average AQI stood at 386, also in the 'very poor' range, according to the 4 pm bulletin issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Several parts of the city continued to breathe toxic air, with 16 stations reporting 'severe' AQI on Saturday.
Bawana recorded the highest AQI at 443, followed by Wazirpur at 434, according to the CPCB's Sameer app.
According to the CPCB, 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'.
PM10 and PM2.5, referring to particulate matter measuring ten micrometres and 2.5 micrometres, respectively, remained the dominant pollutants.
According to the Decision Support System (DSS), a mechanism used by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, for air quality analysis and forecast, stubble burning emissions comprised 16.3 per cent of Delhi's pollutants on Saturday, while vehicular emissions accounted for 18.3 per cent, the highest share among all sources.
The forecast suggests that stubble burning will contribute 14.5 per cent to the capital's pollution on Sunday.
Satellite data indicates 104 farm fire incidents in Punjab, 24 in Haryana and 129 in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far on Saturday, with the mercury settling at 9.7 degrees Celsius, 3.8 notches below normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The maximum temperature stood at 26.6 degrees Celsius, 1.9 notches below normal.
According to IMD data, the lowest November temperature last year was recorded at 9.5 degrees Celsius on November 29, while in 2023, it was 9.2 degrees Celsius on November 23.
The forecast for Sunday indicates shallow fog, with temperatures expected to hover around 25 degrees Celsius (maximum) and 10 degrees Celsius (minimum).