Nearly 50 cities suffer poor air quality till the day of Diwali

Delhi remains worst affected metro

The number of cities facing 'poor' or 'very poor' air quality with an air quality index (AQI) of over 200 scaled a peak of 49 since the start of the month, according to data released by Central Pollution Control Board for the 24 hours until 4pm on October 31.

Delhi had one of the worst air quality with an AQI of 328. Five other cities had 'very poor' air quality with a readings of 301.

On the other hand, the number of cities with good air quality (0-50) fell to the lowest number of 19 over the last month.

Just 29 percent of the cities had satisfactory air quality.

Out of the 266 cities for which data was available, just one had an AQI of less than 30, while five had an AQI below 40.

All metros, barring Kolkata and Hyderabad, had an AQI of over 100. Delhi’s AQI has jumped 60 points in just two days from 268 on October 29.

Mumbai’s AQI at 167 was the worst in a month. October 31 also marked the first day when Chennai’s AQI crossed 200 mark.

Bengaluru’s AQI remained above 100 for a sixth consecutive day. Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar too had readings above 100.

Among foreign cities, New York had an AQI of 52 on October 31, better than 244 Indian cities. London’s AQI at 61 was better than 231 Indian cities, while Beijing’s reading of 184 was better than 62 of Indian cities.