The air quality in Delhi and and neighbouring National Capital Region on Monday continued to remain in the “very poor” category for the third day in a row.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi in the morning stood at 322 and at 324 in Noida, ANI reported, citing data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”. An AQI above 500 falls in the “severe plus” category.

Earlier this week, the average was recorded at 322 on Sunday evening, while Noida recorded an AQI of 324 and Gurugram 314, both in the ‘very poor’ category.

On Saturday, the AQI was recorded at 304, 261 on Friday, 256 on Thursday, 243 on Wednesday and 220 on Tuesday, data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed.

On Sunday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai demanded the Centre impose a strict ban on buses operating with poor-quality diesel in the NCR areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, according to