Delhi Air Pollution – City Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 469 at 9am (Representative)
New Delhi:
Air quality in the national capital remained “severe” for the fifth day in a row on Monday, and calm wind speeds compounded the effect of stubble burning.
VK Soni, head of the Indian Meteorological Department’s environmental research center, said that a major improvement in the air quality of Delhi-NCR was highly unlikely in the coming days.
“Air quality is likely to register at the top end of the ” very poor ” category on Diwali if we discount emissions from firecrackers. If people break the cookies, pollution levels can rise from ” severe. ” to ” severe plus “category (emergency),” he said.
The National Green Court (NGT) on Monday imposed a total ban on the sale or use of all types of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from midnight on November 9 to midnight on November 30, saying that “The celebration of cookies is for happiness and not to celebrate death and disease.”
An official said the newly formed Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjacent Areas is likely to hold a review meeting on Monday considering the situation.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 474 at 11 am, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board. Its 24-hour average AQI was 416 on Sunday, 427 on Saturday, 406 on Friday, and 450 on Thursday, the highest since November 15 last year, when it was 458.
The neighboring cities of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram also recorded “severe” air quality.
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” and 401 and 500 “severe”.
PM10 levels in Delhi-NCR stood at 591 micrograms per cubic meter (µg / m3) at 10 am, the highest since November 15 of last year, when it was 637 µg / m3, according to CPCB data. . PM10 levels below 100 µg / m3 are considered safe in India.
PM10 levels are considered in the “most severe” category if their concentration is greater than 500 micrograms per cubic meter, according to the Graduated Response Action Plan for Delhi-NCR notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2017 .
The view from an office in Delhi’s neighboring Noida (Sector 73) on September 23, November 4 and November 9 (top to bottom)
PM10 is particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns and can be inhaled into the lungs. These particles include dust, pollen, and mold spores.
Levels of PM2.5, finer particles that can even enter the bloodstream, were 381 µg / m3 at 11 am. PM2.5 levels up to 60 µg / m3 are considered safe.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the wind speed was 3 to 4 kilometers per hour in the morning and the minimum temperature was 10 degrees Celsius. Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favorable wind speeds help disperse them.
There was shallow to moderate fog in the morning causing smog. It lowered visibility to 600 meters at the Safdarjung Observatory, said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional forecast center.
He said the situation is likely to continue until November 15 as the wind speed is not expected to increase significantly.
The central government Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi also said that “no significant improvement in air quality is likely” due to low wind speeds, particularly at night, and the contribution of agricultural fires. .
“The agricultural fire count in Punjab is still very high, which will likely affect the air quality of Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwestern India,” he said.
The air quality monitor of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, SAFAR, said that the winds at the surface have calmed down and are expected to remain so for the next two days.
“This is an important factor because a rapid recovery is not expected unless there is a drastic reduction in the fire count,” he said.
SAFAR said the proportion of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was 29 percent on Sunday.
Thursday was 42 percent, the highest this season so far.
Last year, the contribution of stubble to Delhi’s pollution had peaked at 44 percent on Nov. 1, according to SAFAR data.
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