Delhi Air quality index improves, but may worsen on Friday: Forecast

Delhi’s air quality is likely to deteriorate but will be in the ‘very poor’ category from December 9 to December 11, CAQM said. The city’s maximum temperature is likely to remain around 25-26 degrees Celsius in the next three days, while the minimum will hover around the 8-degree mark

Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) improved to ‘poor’ on Thursday from being ‘very poor’ the previous day even as forecasters predicted that it may again deteriorate on Friday due to slower surface winds.

Highrises engulfed in smog in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Delhi recorded an average AQI of 281 on Thursday, marginally lower than 304 on Wednesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily 4pm bulletin.

According to the forecast by the Early Warning System for Delhi, “Delhi’s air quality is likely to deteriorate but will be in the ‘very poor’ category from December 9 to December 11, 2022. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows AQI is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category,” said the EWS on Thursday.

An AQI between 201-300 indicates poor air quality, and a value between 301-400 means very poor air.

With the air quality improving during the last three days, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday evening lifted all restrictions under Stage-III of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), which were imposed on Sunday, when city’s AQI was in the ‘severe’ range (AQI between 401-500). The curbs included the ban on private construction and demolition activities across NCR,

Delhi has so far recorded four ‘severe’ air days this winter, the last of which came on Sunday, when the AQI was 407. Delhi recorded three severe air days in November, Delhi’s lowest for November in the last eight years.

With cold northwesterly winds blowing towards Delhi, the capital recorded a minimum of 8.3 degrees Celsius on Thursday – one degree below normal for the season. This is however not Delhi’s lowest this winter, with it dropping to as low as 7.3 degrees on November 29, 2022. Delhi’s maximum was meanwhile recorded at 24.8 degrees – one degree above normal.

Forecasts show Delhi’s maximum is likely to remain around 25-26 degrees Celsius in the next three days, while the minimum will hover around the 8-degree mark.

“In the absence of a significant western disturbance, we have not seen a dip in temperature in the last few days, with the minimum and maximum largely remaining around the normal mark. While the temperature rises briefly during a western disturbance, the departure of it allows winds from snow-covered mountains to blow towards Delhi-NCR once again, leading to a sharp dip in temperature,” said R.K Jenamani, scientist at IMD.