Bringing a sigh of relief for city’s residents after a long time, the average Air Quality Index (AQI) level of Delhi improved to ‘moderate’ category.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily AQI bulletin, city’s index value on Wednesday was 178, reeling under the moderate zone. It has been a while since the city recorded moderate air quality level, while it had been witnessing bad air days for some time now.

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There were only seven places across the city that recorded an air quality index above 200, falling in the ‘poor’ category, Shadipur area being the worst affected with a reading of 267 at 4 pm.

Talking to the newspaper, people in Connaught Place expressed that they felt better with the clear skies and presence of breeze and improved AQI levels. They said that on Wednesday it felt better than before in terms of breathing easy.

However, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) has forecast that the city’s air quality is likely to be Moderate on Thursday, and later it may drop to the poor category on Friday.

“The outlook for subsequent 6 Days: The air quality is likely to be in the Poor to Very Poor category,” IITM added.

Meanwhile, curbs under the anti- pollution  Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) invoked by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) remain enforced across the city to mitigate pollutants.