No relief from high pollution levels in Delhi, AQI dips to very poor category

The air quality across the city worsened on Wednesday morning and was recorded in the very poor category.

The city's Air Quality Index stood at 394 at 9:05 am on Wednesday, up from 365 on Tuesday.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 10.6 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, while the relative humidity was recorded at 76 per cent at 8:30 am.

Delhi has been witnessing a steep increase in AQI levels after a marginal improvement on Sunday. The city's AQI stood at 348 at 4 pm on Monday, deteriorating from 301 on Sunday.

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, 401 and 450 severe and above 450 severe plus.

The increase in AQI levels comes after the Centre on Saturday had removed stringent curbs, including a ban on construction work related to linear projects and the entry of polluting trucks, in Delhi following a drop in pollution levels due to favourable wind speed and direction.

These measures constitute the final stage -- Stage IV -- of the Centre's air pollution control plan called the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).