Delhi AQI at 369 as 18 stations record severe air

Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index stood at 369 at 4 p.m. on November 5, remaining in the very poor category for a fourth consecutive day, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. The reading was down from 377 at the same time a day earlier, but 18 of the capital’s 59 active monitoring stations recorded severe air quality. Jahangirpuri had the highest reading in the city at 454.

The Delhi Air Quality Early Warning System forecast that pollution could reach the severe category from November 6 and remain severe through November 8. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology also forecast a possible move into the severe category from November 6, with conditions expected to range between severe and very poor afterward. Those forecasts described a potential deterioration; the November 5 citywide average remained very poor.

The CPCB classifies AQI readings from 301 to 400 as very poor and readings from 401 to 500 as severe. The distinction helps explain why severe readings at individual stations did not put the citywide average in the severe category. A separate count reported that 22 stations were severe by 10 p.m. on November 5, later than the 4 p.m. observation...