New Delhi, Oct 27 (IANS): The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the 'poor' category as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city reached 249 on Friday morning, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The AQI at Dhirpur with PM 2.5 was at 269, under a 'poor' category.

The 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'.

In Pusa, the AQI recorded PM 2.5 at 183 'moderate' category.

At Lodhi Road, the Air Quality Index with PM 2.5 concentration was at 218 under the 'poor' category and the PM 10 stood at 156 also under the 'moderate' category.

At IIT Delhi station the PM 2.5 was at 273, 'poor' category while the PM 10 reached 169, in 'moderate'category.

The Air Quality Index at the city's Mathura Road was under 'moderate' category with PM 2.5 at 168 with PM 10 concentration at 142.

According to the forecast from the SAFAR for Saturday, the air quality of the national capital will deteriorate further under 'poor' category with PM 2.5 reaching at 286 and the PM 10 concentration at 182 under 'moderate' category.

The Air Quality Index of Delhi’s neighbouring cities of Noida stood at 225 and the PM 10 concentration at 208 both under poor category, while Gurugram's AQI was reported at 252, under poor category and the PM 10 concentration at 159 under moderate category.