The air quality in Delhi improved on Saturday morning with an Air Quality Index of 227 in the “poor” category. At 9 am, Delhi’s AQI was recorded at 227, down from 281 on Friday morning, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. This was the second straight day the AQI has shown an improvement after four days of remaining ‘very poor’.

The AQI is expected to cross 300 later in the day, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) forecast.

The AQI in Mundka and Anand Vihar (AQI 367) area of Delhi persisted in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday, with PM 10 as the prominent pollutant in the city.

The Air Quality Early Warning System predicts that irrespective of a similar wind pattern, pollution levels will likely rise in Delhi for the next two-three days due to unfavourable weather conditions, with the AQI forecasted at 400 by October 31.

Northern cities of Bhiwani, Rohtak and Jind in Haryana were among the top ten polluted cities in India in October, according to CPCB. Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh also show unhealthy air quality this month.

An AQI between zero 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’

For Mumbai, the overall AQI was at 112 on Saturday morning. Kolkata’s AQI stood at 161, Bengaluru at 113, Lucknow at 80 and Patna at 49 on Saturday. Meanwhile, Hyderabad was at 110 and Ahmedabad at 62.