E-Paper
AQI in very poor range in Delhi, wind speed to pick up by weekend
New Delhi
New Delhi
Delhi’s air quality improved marginally on Friday but remained in the ‘very poor’ range. The situation is set to improve at least till the next week as wind speed is expected to pick up over the weekend, scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Delhi’s overall air quality index (AQI) on Friday was 360, as against the 366 recorded on Thursday. Even though the forecast for Friday says the AQI level is likely to deteriorate and reach the ‘severe’ zone, scientists said the winds started picking up by afternoon and helped disperse pollutants.
Despite the overall AQI levels improving, in the evening, the air quality touched danger levels at some stations. In Anand Vihar, Mundka, Bawana, Narela, Vivek Vihar, Rohini and Nehru Nagar, the AQI at 7pm were in the ‘severe’ category.
At 7pm on Friday, the PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) levels were 192ug/m3, nearly three times higher than the acceptable limit of 60ug/m3. The PM 10 (coarse dust with diameter less than 10 micrometres) was at 330ug/m3. The safe limit is considered 100ug/m3.
“The wind speed in the afternoon was around 8-10kmph, the main reason behind the relief. Tomorrow (Saturday) and day after (Sunday), the wind speed will get better, which will improve the air quality further,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said.
Srivastava said that after a dip on Monday, things will improve again on Tuesday because of an approaching western disturbance in Delhi, which will bring in light rain. The wind will also be strong enough to keep the air clean.
Another scientist at IMD agreed that the air is expected to remain relatively cleaner throughout next week.
“The AQI is likely to reach the ‘poor’ band by Sunday and there is no forecast of any deterioration at least for the coming week,” the scientist said.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), ministry of earth science’s weather and air quality monitoring centre, forecast also said the strong surface and boundary layer wind speed will help flush out toxic accumulation over the next two days.
The forecast read that on Friday, the contribution of crop stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana in Delhi’s air was around 4%.
