Air quality remains very poor in many parts of Punjab, Haryana     

Several places in Punjab and Haryana saw the air quality settle in the 'very poor' and 'poor' categories on Sunday with Karnal the worst hit with an AQI of 316.

At 9 am on Sunday, the AQI in Punjab's Amritsar was recorded at 301 and it was registered in Haryana's Bahadurgarh and Karnal at 313 and 316 respectively, which fall in the 'very poor' category, as per the Sameer app that provides hourly updates of the national AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Among several places in Haryana, the AQI recorded was 293 in Bhiwani, 280 in Charkhi Dadri, 238 in Faridabad, 202 in Fatehabad, 266 in Gurugram, 266 in Hisar, 253 in Jind, 258 in Rohtak, 296 in Sonepat, 251 in Sirsa, 238 in Kurukshetra, 187 in Panipat, 142 in Yamunanagar and 112 in Ambala, the data showed.

In Chandigarh, the AQI was recorded at 183.

In Punjab, the AQI was registered at 119 in Bathinda, 214 in Jalandhar, 171 in Khanna, 153 in Ludhiana, 207 in Patiala, 184 in Mandi Gobindgarh and 141 in Rupnagar.

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, 401 and 450 severe and above 450 'severe plus'.

Punjab recorded 379 farm fires on Saturday.