Air quality in Delhi improves; drizzle likely

The national capital on Friday witnessed a cloudy morning and the minimum temperature settled at 10.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average, the India Meteorological Department said.

In the last 24 hours, the city witnessed 1 mm rainfall, it said.

The relative humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 97 per cent.

The weather office has predicted a generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle. The maximum temperature will settle around 17 degrees Celsius, it said.

Delhi's air quality was in the poor category' as the air quality index (AQI) at 9 am on Friday was 210, marking a significant improvement in 24 hours. According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, the AQI in the capital on Thursday morning was 324.

On Friday, the air quality in its neighbouring Faridabad stood at 222, Ghaziabad (160), Greater Noida (164), Gurugram (216) and Noida (158).

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.

On Thursday, the city saw its maximum temperature going down by eight notches to 14.4 degrees Celsius, the coldest for the month in 19 years.

On February 1, 2003, the national capital had recorded a high of 14.3 degrees Celsius.