Air quality in Delhi fell to the other end of the “poor” category on Friday morning. The city’s air quality index (AQI) reading at 6 a.m. was 290, higher than the average AQI reading of 283 recorded Thursday.
Government agencies had forecast on Thursday that air quality could deteriorate slightly and touch the lower end of the “very poor” zone from November 20-21.
According to the Weather and Air Quality Research and Forecasting System (Safar), the air quality forecasting wing of the Union Ministry said air quality may touch “very poor” on Friday and improve marginally on Saturday. . He attributed the deterioration in air quality to an increase in the contribution of stubble to the city’s PM 2.5 levels.
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“The wind direction is northwest and is bringing smoke from stubble fires in neighboring Haryana and Punjab,” the Safar newsletter had indicated.
The contribution of stubble burning to the city’s PM 2.5 levels was estimated to be 20% on Thursday, up from 8% the day before.
The deterioration occurs despite the fact that the average wind speed is around 10-15 km / h, which favors the dispersion of pollutants.
Scientists from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that an increase in fire counts and a drop in temperature could be the reasons behind the deterioration in air quality.
Delhi recorded the lowest minimum temperature of the season on Thursday: 9.4 degrees Celsius, three levels below normal. It is mainly due to the cold winds blowing from the snowy Himalayan region. The maximum was set at 25.6 degrees Celsius, two levels below normal.
“The minimum temperature can drop even more during the weekend. However, the wind speed is likely to remain high until November 21, ”said a senior scientist at IMD.
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