The air quality in Delhi improved to the ‘poor’ from ‘very poor’ category on Saturday morning, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) standing at 280, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
Air quality in Mumbai and Ahmedabad is also in the ‘poor’ category. According to the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management data, several areas of Delhi such as Anand Vihar, Chandani Chowk, Rohini and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium recorded ‘poor’ air quality, with the AQI values standing at 221, 250, 252 and 227 respectively, whereas Lodhi road recorded ‘moderate’ air quality with AQI standing at 121.
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As per government agencies, an AQI within the range of 0-5 is regarded as ‘good’, 51-100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 is ‘moderate’, 201-300 is ‘poor’ and 301-400 is ‘very poor’ and 401-500 is considered ‘severe’.
Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand.
It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour. There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints).