Delhi air pollution recovers, improves to ‘very poor’

The national capital saw a gradual respite from poor weather condition on Tuesday as the day progressed, improving to "very poor" in the day from "severe" level of air pollution.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index (AQI) was "very poor" at 397 at 7 pm. The data was based on readings from 35 monitoring stations across the city.

The prominent pollutants in the air were PM2.5 and PM10. The level of PM2.5 has improved since Monday to 268. Same with the PM10, the count of which also came fairly down from 475 to 435 since yesterday.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said the air quality of Delhi air is improving despite "adverse weather condition". The improvement it said was due to a "moderate wind" leading to dispersal of pollutants.

However, it cautioned: "No significant improvement is expected as winds are likely to be calm at any time in the prevailing sensitive environment.

"Air quality is expected to remain at the border or 'very poor' over the next three days," it forecast.