India: Delhi's air turns 'severe' again

 delhi pollution

New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) Delhi's air quality turned severe again on Tuesday due to low wind speed and high moisture levels, India Meteorological Department officials said.

The city's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) was 404 on Tuesday. It was 372 on Monday and 347 the previous day.

Before that, Delhi's air quality remained in the severe zone for three consecutive days.

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", and 401 and 500 "severe".

The meteorological conditions low wind speed and high moisture content in the air were unfavorable for dispersion of pollutants, an IMD official said.

The average wind speed was 8 kmph to 10 kmph on Tuesday. Humidity levels shot up 100 percent during the day.

Delhi has recorded six severe air quality days this month so far, while four severe air days were registered in December.