Delhi’s air quality continued to pose serious health concerns on Friday, with the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 346 at 7 am, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category, according to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Several monitoring stations across the national capital reported AQI levels well above 300. Anand Vihar registered an AQI of 354, Ashok Vihar recorded 367, ITO stood at 362, and RK Puram logged 374. Other pollution hotspots included Patparganj (372), Wazirpur (374), Chandni Chowk (370) and Dwarka Sector 8 (369), CPCB data showed.
Under the AQI classification system, readings between 301 and 400 fall under the ‘very poor’ category, while levels above 401 are considered ‘severe’.
In addition to poor air quality, the capital is also witnessing a cold wave, with temperatures dropping to around 5.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Meanwhile, dense to very dense fog disrupted visibility at several airports across northern and eastern India in the early hours of Friday. Official data recorded at 5:30 am showed zero visibility at airports in Amritsar, Adampur, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Hindon, and Saharanpur, where very dense fog prevailed.
Extremely poor visibility was also reported across Punjab, Chandigarh, and parts of western Uttar Pradesh, raising concerns over potential delays and disruptions to both air and surface transport.
In Delhi, Palam airport reported visibility of 800 metres, while Safdarjung recorded 700 metres under shallow fog conditions. Moderate fog was observed at several other locations, with Varanasi and Jammu reporting visibility of 200 metres, Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh recording 350 metres, and Kanpur and Gorakhpur seeing visibility improve to around 400 metres.
A day earlier, Delhi’s overall AQI stood at 352 at 8 am, remaining firmly in the ‘very poor’ category, CPCB data showed.
