Delhi air worsens to 'severe plus', AQI crosses 450

Delhi's AQI dips further

Delhi’s air quality worsened to "severe plus" as the air quality index (AQI) crossed 450 on December 19, the  third day that the reading stayed above over 400.

Rohtak in neighbouring Haryana had an  AQI of above 400, as the air remained "very poor" in most of the national capital region (NCR) with readings of over 300. Ghaziabad had an AQI of 386 and Noida 367.

A dozen cities across the country had AQI of above 300, with another 55 witnessing AQI levels between 201 and 300.

Nearly 30 percent of cities for which data was available had "poor" or worse air compared with 11.7 percent a week ago and 16 percent at the start of the month.

An AQI reading between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, 401 and 450 severe, and above 450 severe-plus.

Delhi is not the only metro struggling with toxic air. Mumbai’s AQI remained was at 198. Kolkata residents had it tad better with AQI falling to 153 from 191 the previous day.

Hyderabad’s AQI was also above 100 at 153, while Chennai and Bengaluru both had a reading of below 100.

Ahmedabad’s AQI was high at 188 and Gandhinagar, which is also home to GIFT City, had an AQI of 141.

London’s AQI at 27 was lower than that of 239 Indian cities, while Beijing’s AQI of 93 was better than that of 179 Indian towns.

Among the Indian cities, Aizwal had the best AQI of 19, one of the 14 cities with levels below 50.