New Delhi, October 14: The air quality in Delhi continued to be in 'poor' category for the eighth consecutive day on Wednesday. The air quality in the national capital deteriorated with rise of pollutants in the atmosphere and the Air Quality Index is at 275 in 'poor' category. Reports inform that the air quality hit an eight-month low and was recorded just a notch close to the 'very poor' category on Tuesday. The rise in pollutants is largely due to calm winds and low temperature that allowed accumulation of pollutants. Delhi's Air Quality Deteriorates Further.

The Air Quality Index on Tuesday stood at 306. It was 261 on Monday, 216 on Sunday and 221 on Saturday. As per the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, there was an increase was also observed in farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions. The NASA's satellite imagery showed a large cluster of fires near Amritsar and Firozpur in Punjab and Patiala, Ambala and Kaithal in Haryana.

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On Tuesday, the city's air quality index (AQI) hit 'very poor' levels and stood at 306. Thereafter, the pollution levels dipped slightly due to an improvement in the ventilation index. An AQI between 0 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'. A report by PTI quoted V K Soni, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, saying that the dip in the air quality can be attributed to low wind speed which allowed accumulation of pollutants.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 14, 2020 10:41 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).