Delhi’s air is near ‘severe’, the worst in more than nine months

The air quality in Delhi is the worst in more than nine months

NEW DELHI: Air quality in Delhi deteriorated sharply on Sunday as calm winds and low mercury affected the spread of pollutants.
Within 24 hours the Air quality index (AQI) rose to 382 from 316 on Saturday, moving the country into the upper tier of the ‘very poor’ category. This was the worst AQI in more than nine months. A higher AQI than this was last recorded at 392 on January 31, it appears Central Pollution Control Board facts.
The highest AQI in October was 364 in the ‘very poor’ category on October 23. Air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category until Wednesday.
IMD has predicted that fog or smog will develop during the early hours of Monday to Wednesday. Experts said the wind direction changed from northwest to southeast on Sunday, and the wind speed dropped to zero during the transition phase. Even the night temperatures, which usually remained at least 3-4 degrees above normal in October, are now starting to drop in November. On Sunday, the city recorded the lowest minimum temperature of the season at 16.5 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal. It was a dip of about four degrees while the minimum temperature on October 31 was 21.1 degrees Celsius.

“As the wind direction changes to the southeast, the wind became calm during the day, causing a build-up of pollutants. Variable winds have been blowing in the city over the past 24 hours, but southeasterly winds are expected to prevail on Monday and Tuesday. Although southeasterly winds are unfavorable for the transport of emissions stubble burning To Delhi, local winds are expected to be calm at night and light during the day. Since local winds are not expected to pick up in the next two days, it is likely to impact air quality,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-chairman of Skymet Meteorology.
As winds became calm during the day, the AQI peaked from 366 at 8 a.m. to 382 at 4 p.m., based on the average calculated by CPCB from 39 stations out of a total of 40. The AQI value exceeded 400 at 14 stations, making them placed in the ‘serious’ category. This included Anand Vihar, the most polluted with an AQI of 436, followed by Nehru Nagar at 430 and Punjabi Bagh at 425.
“Meteorological conditions are likely to be extremely unfavorable for the dispersion of pollutants,” the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) said on Sunday. The EWS added that air quality is likely to remain in the very poor range until Wednesday, but air quality is expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category for the next six days from November 6.
According to the Decision Support System, Delhi’s share of stubble burning in PM2.5 stood at 14.96% on Saturday. However, as southeasterly winds are likely to blow in the city, the contribution of stubble burning is expected to decline. Satellites detected 351 residue burns on Sunday. Of these, 216 were in Punjab, 19 in Haryana, 16 in UP, 36 in Rajasthan and 67 in MP, according to satellite data collected by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.