Delhi’s air quality worsens further, likely to remain ‘very poor’ until Tuesday

Air quality in Delhi and the adjoining areas worsened to the 'very poor' category on Sunday, after a three-day respite, and pollution is expected to increase over the next few days due to unfavourable weather conditions. It worsened on Monday morning, said officials.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi on Sunday was 311, considered 'very poor', while on Saturday it was 267 or 'poor', on a scale of 0 to 500. Government agencies have forecast that pollution levels would continue to remain in the very poor zone at least till Tuesday.

Incidents of crop burning in northwest India have increased over the past 24 hours, but as the wind is coming mainly from the southeasterly direction, the toxic fumes from Punjab and Haryana are not entering Delhi.

The sky is expected to remain cloudy because of a western disturbance and a cyclonic circulation over the region. There are, however, no chances of rain.

The high moisture level also triggered some mist in the morning. The visibility around 8:30 am in Delhi was 1200m. If the visibility drops below 1000m, it is called a fog.

“With clouds in the sky, the night temperature shot up to 15.3 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees above normal,” said an official from the local meteorological department.

The minimum temperature on Monday was recorded at 15.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, the weather office said.

Sunday’s maximum temperature settled at 29 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 11 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season’s average.

The humidity at 8.30 am was 72% and the weather office predicted that the maximum temperature will hover around 27 degrees Celsius for the day.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Nov 19, 2018 11:07 IST

On a scale of 0-500, an AQI value between 0 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’.

Official report claims “significant drop” in stubble burning in neighbouring states. Delhi is currently suffering with the pollution generated from the local sources.

The major pollutant PM2.5 or particles with diameter less than 2.5mm also intensified over the day as the Westerly winds brought along moisture.

"Air quality is 'very poor' and expected to remain in the same category, with a gradual increase for the next three days as surface winds will be declining slowly," said a forecast by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

SAFAR said that high humidity is unfavourable for dispersion of the pollutant.

"Delhi currenlty is polluted with its own pollutants. Stubble burning has negligible effect on it," said Mahesh Palawat, a director at private weather forecasting agency Skymet.

With wind speeds set to fall till November 20, the pollution may rise.

"However, air quality will improve with Delhi receiving fresh north-westerly winds from November 21," Palawat added.

The average presence of the major pollutant PM2.5 was 163 microgrammes per cubic meter in Delhi. Across over 40 regions in the National Capital Region (NCR) it was 160.

Across NCR, Gurugram with an AQI of 255 or 'poor' had the cleanest air. The AQI was 335 in Ghaziabad, 313 in Greater Noida, 336 in Noida and 308 in Faridabad.

SAFAR has issued an advisory cautioning people in Delhi to avoid outdoor physical exercises.