Karnal, Oct. 25 -- The Air Quality Index (AQI) in five cities of Haryana was on Friday recorded worse than Delhi. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI in Bahadurgarh was highest in the country at 318, for second day in a row, followed by another industrial town of Haryana -- Dharuhera in Rewari district at 312 and Fatehabad stood third with a marginal difference at 309. The index, which is an average of the past 24 hours, showed that no other town in the country recorded "very poor" AQI. Infact, Delhi was in the "poor" category at 275. Several cities in Haryana recorded "poor" air quality: Kaithal (297), Manesar (280), Karnal (269), Jind (239), Sonepat (220), Gurugram (219), Sirsa (214) and Kurukshetra (210). Gurugram's air turned toxic this week, with fine particulate matter concentrations shooting up to 592 at approximately 11.00pm on Diwali night - breaching the limits set by the Central Pollution Control Board in its official scale. Residents woke up to a hazy morning with the visibility diping below 1,000 metre in the NCR on Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The Air Quality Index (AQI) measured at three operational stations in the city - NISE Gwal Pahari, Sector 51 and Vikas Sadan - stood at 370, plunging into the 'very poor' category on Tuesday. Experts raised alarm over a debilitating air quality and rising respiratory illnesses, further advising residents to remain indoors. The worst-hit areas included the Belaire housing community suburb in DLF 5 (sector 54) which logged an AQI of 502 on Monday. After four consecutive days of "very poor" air, increased wind speed improved the air quality in the Capital to the "poor" level, leading Delhi to clock a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) reading of 275, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB's) daily bulletin. The AQI a day prior was 305 ("very poor".) Throughout the day, the real-time air quality continued to improve; it was 290 at 9am, 286 at 11am and 272 at 6pm. An AQI of 51 to 100 is classified as "satisfactory", 101 to 200 is classified as "moderate", 201 to 300 is classified as "poor", 301 to 400 is classified as "very poor" and over 400 is "severe", as per the CPCB. According to CPCB data for Friday, 38 air quality stations were active in Delhi and of them, the one at Anand Vihar , remained in the "severe" range throughout the day, with an AQI of 407 ("severe") at 6pm, in contrast to "poor" or "very poor" readings across other zones. However, the overall improvement is likely to remain short-lived, according to forecasts....