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Delhi pollution: Air quality improves in index, stays very poor
Delhi’s AQI will improve but it will remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next two days as transport-level winds are now coming from the eastern direction, preventing intrusion of any pollutants from the stubble burning region, said Safar
New Delhi Delhi’s air quality improved on Thursday, dropping to the lower half of the “very poor” category with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 347 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) daily bulletin, as a change in wind direction to south-easterly reduced the contribution of stubble burning to just 2%, weather officials said.
In comparison, the AQI was 375 (also very poor) on Wednesday. While south-easterly winds will reduce the impact from stubble burning in the next 48 hours as well, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said this will also lead to a rise in mercury, with the minimum temperature increasing to around 12 degrees Celsius by Friday. North-westerly winds are meanwhile expected to return from November 21, with strong local winds expected to lead to dispersal of pollutants.
Agencies said Delhi was currently witnessing calm wind conditions, offsetting the reduction in emissions from stubble burning. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), a forecasting body under the central government, only 773 fires were recorded in the northern plains in the last 24 hours. SAFAR’s analysis shows the contribution of stubble burning has been reducing rapidly over the past week, dropping from 10% on November 15 to 8% the next day, 6% on November 17 and 2% on Thursday.
“Delhi’s AQI will improve but it will remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next two days as transport-level winds are now coming from the eastern direction, preventing intrusion of any pollutants from the stubble burning region. However, local surface winds are low and mixing layer height is above 1km, resulting in moderate ventilation of near-surface pollutants. From November 21 onwards, surface winds are likely to be strong resulting in effective dispersion that improves air quality,” said SAFAR, stating that with just 773 fires the impact from stubble burning on Thursday was negligible.
Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 26.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday, one degree below normal. The minimum was recorded at 10.5 degrees – two notches below normal. On Wednesday, the minimum temperature dropped to 9.6 degrees at Safdarjung – the lowest so far this season, with the Ayanagar station also recording isolated “cold wave” conditions.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at the private forecasting agency Skymet, said southeasterly winds will continue till November 20, with north-westerly winds to only return from November 21 onwards. “Temperatures will start rising now, with a drop only expected after November 22. The impact of stubble burning will reduce due to south-easterly winds, but at the same time, Delhi is seeing calm conditions,” he said.
According to the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, another forecasting mechanism in place in the ministry of earth sciences, strong surface winds over Delhi from November 21 may even bring air quality to the “poor” category.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is “poor”, between 301 and 400 “very poor” and over 400 “severe” on the CPCB’s index.
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