Delhi woke up to a slight improvement in air quality on Wednesday, with the city's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 299 at 7 am, placing it in the 'poor' category. However, the marginal improvement offered little respite, as pollution levels remained dangerously close to the 'very poor' threshold, with several parts of the national capital continuing to breathe heavily polluted air.Of the 58 monitoring stations that recorded data, 28 reported 'very poor' air quality, while 30 remained in the 'poor' category.Among the worst-affected areas, Chandni Chowk recorded an AQI of 379, followed by IIT Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU) at 375 each.

North Campus of Delhi University registered an AQI of 374, while ITO recorded 367 and Burari Crossing 362.Pusa and Punjabi Bagh also reported high pollution levels, with AQIs of 359 and 341, respectively. At India Gate, the AQI stood at 242, while Anand Vihar continued to reel under 'very poor' air quality at 303.

Delhi Cantonment was the only location to record 'moderate' air quality, with an AQI of 117.The improvement comes after a post-Diwali spike in pollution, with Delhi's AQI climbing to 376 on Diwali day, placing it firmly in the 'very poor' category. Despite restrictions on firecrackers, their bursting, coupled with unfavourable weather conditions, contributed to a rise in pollutant levels.

The city subsequently saw some respite, with the AQI dropping to 344 on Monday and further to 299 on Tuesday and Wednesday, as stronger winds aided the dispersion of pollutants.Weather experts expect pollution levels to ease further over the next couple of days, with stronger winds aiding the dispersion of pollutants. Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of Skymet and a weather expert, said changing wind patterns had helped improve the situation."The wind direction and speed have changed.

Now northwesterlies are impacting the Delhi region, with an average speed of 12-14 kmph, which has helped the dispersion of pollutants," he said.Palawat added that wind speeds were expected to remain high over the next couple of days, potentially bringing further improvement in air quality.The Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi has also forecast a decline in concentrations of particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10, over the next two days.The improvement in air quality was not uniform across the National Capital Region (NCR), with cities reporting mixed trends on Wednesday morning, although all remained in the 'poor' category.Noida's AQI improved to 278 from 301 recorded at 4 pm on Tuesday, while Gurugram's fell from 323 to 292 and Faridabad's from 290 to 275. In contrast, Ghaziabad witnessed a deterioration, with its AQI rising from 244 to 282.As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as 'good', 51 and 100 as 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 as 'moderate', 201 and 300 as 'poor', 301 and 400 as 'very poor', and 401 and 500 as 'severe'.- Ends