Jaipur, Nov 21 (IANS) The air quality in Jaipur on Thursday slipped into the 'very poor' category as the AQI level reached 344 in the Mansarovar area. The air remained in the 'poor' category in other areas of the city where the quality index was over 200.

Besides Jaipur, the air quality index (AQI) stayed 'poor' in other cities of Rajasthan like Jhalawar, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur and Sri Ganganagar.

On Thursday, Jhalawar had 245 AQI, Sikar had 279, Sawai Madhopur had 204, Tonk had 324 and Sri Ganganagar had 242. Kota in Shrinath Puram had an AQI level of 294, said Central Pollution Control Board officials.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI is considered "poor" between '200 and 300', "very poor" at '301 and 400', "severe" at '401-450," and 450 and above is "severe plus".

Experts said the health effects due to poor AQI levels may be immediately felt by sensitive groups. Healthy individuals may experience difficulty in breathing and also feel throat irritation with prolonged exposure.

According to the report of the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI level in Jaipur, Ganganagar, Sikar and Bhiwadi (Khairthal) remained above 300 on Wednesday and was under the red zone category. The highest AQI level was recorded at 342 in Bhiwadi. The AQI level was recorded at 325 in Jaipur, 305 in Ganganagar and 310 in Sikar. Meanwhile, the AQI level in Churu and Jhunjhunu areas also remained in bad condition. The AQI level was recorded at 228 in Churu and 226 in Jhunjhunu, which brought these districts into the orange zone.

With the increasing effect of northern winds in Rajasthan, the cold has intensified and the fog has increased in the state.

Due to the increase in fog in Delhi-NCR and northern Rajasthan cities, the Air Quality Index (AQI) also slipped into the bad category.

In Jaipur, the sunlight became feeble with smog engulfing the surroundings. It was cold during the day in many cities, including Jaipur. The maximum temperature remained under the category of 25 to 28 degrees Celsius.

In view of the increasing pollution, government and private schools in Khairthal-Tijara district have been closed. Children from Classes 1 to 5 are not going to school from November 20 to 23 but have online classes. The order for this was issued by Khairthal Collector Kishore Kumar on November 19.