New Delhi: The air quality in the national capital deteriorated again on Monday, settling in the ‘very poor’ category with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 301.

The improvement seen on Sunday, when Delhi recorded an AQI of 279, placing it in the ‘poor’ bracket after 24 consecutive days of ‘very poor’ and near-‘severe’ levels, proved short-lived.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app, 24 of the 38 monitoring stations across the city reported air quality in the ‘very poor’ category, while the remaining 14 registered ‘poor’ levels.

Meanwhile, the winter chill intensified. The minimum temperature dropped to 5.7 degrees Celsius, 4.6 degrees below the seasonal average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The relative humidity stood at 100 per cent at 8:30 am. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 24 degrees Celsius.

As per CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’.

PTI