Delhi’s air quality showed slight improvement on Sunday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) moving to the “poor” category at 297 by 9 p.m. This was a significant change from Saturday, which recorded an average AQI of 412 in the “severe” category. The improvement was attributed to better wind conditions and reduced moisture levels, providing the capital city with its best AQI reading for November so far.
Winds Brought Some Relief But Difficulties Continue
The improvement in air quality was largely due to dry westerly winds at speeds ranging between 10-15 kmph, which started late on Saturday night. Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of climate change and meteorology at Skymet, said such winds played a significant role in dispersing pollutants. “The wind speed is likely to remain favorable for the next 2-3 days with no chances of fog. This could lead to further improvement in air quality,” he elaborated.
Though the AQI has been better, Delhi was still under Stage IV of the GRAP, which includes strict controls to check pollution. Those controls are likely to be reconsidered soon.
Sources Of Pollution
Local transport contributed 18.15% to overall pollution in Delhi on Sunday. Stubble burning remained at 19.58% on Saturday. Jhajjar contributed 8.7%, residential emissions 4.5%, and peripheral industries 3.6%.
As per the air quality early warning system set up by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, the overall AQI of the city is expected to be in the “very poor” zone from November 25-27. The forecasted surface winds on Monday were expected to be irregular; they begin at sub-8 kmph in the morning, peaking to 12 kmph in the afternoon, and then decrease during the evening. Smog and shallow fog expected at night and in the morning and will contribute to pollution levels.
Average PM2.5 levels, one of the most measured pollutants, fluctuated between 185.1 and 134 micrograms per cubic meter last night. These averages supersede the national limit set for 24-hour exposure at 60 micrograms as well as the permissible limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO) at 15 micrograms. The average PM10 levels ranged between 320.6 and 250.9 micrograms per cubic meter, again surpassing the respective national and WHO standards of 100 and 45 units.
Effect On Schools
In response to the deteriorating air quality, the Gurgaon administration extended the suspension of physical classes for students up to Class XII in both government and private schools till November 25. This decision aligns with directives from the Director of Secondary Education that empower local authorities to act based on prevailing AQI levels.
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