For Delhi's air quality, weather agency's warning ahead of Diwali

SAFAR said transport-level winds from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh towards Delhi will pick up from October 24 and, in all likelihood, will bring significant stubble-related emissions to the national capital.

Published on: Oct 22, 2022, 21:39:58 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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With the festive season going on in full swing, the overall air quality in Delhi till Diwali on October 24 is likely to remain in the 'poor' to 'very poor' category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

SAFAR said transport-level winds from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh towards Delhi will pick up from October 24 and, in all likelihood, will bring significant stubble-related emissions to the national capital.

Also read | Stubble burning remains a 'significant contributor' to Delhi's unbreathable air in Oct & Nov: Study

"If stubble burning increases gradually, which is likely, its share in Delhi's PM2.5 (based on the average temporal variability of fire counts in the previous years) is likely to be 5 per cent on October 23, 8 per cent on October 24 and 16 to 18 per cent on October 25," SAFAR's predictions said.

"Adverse weather conditions may bring firecracker-related pollution from surrounding regions of Delhi (outside NCT) and with 15 to 18 per cent stubble burning contribution, the AQI is predicted to touch the upper end of 'very poor' to lower end of 'severe' on October 25 (without emission from firecrackers in Delhi)," it added.

SAFAR said in case of the emission from firecrackers, along with other factors, the AQI would worsen to 'severe' on Diwali (October 23) and might continue to remain the same for the next two days (October 24 and October 25).

"Air quality might improve slightly on October 26 evening onwards to the lower end of 'very poor' category as surface winds will pick up on October 26 and stubble transport level winds will slow down," the predictions said.

On Saturday, the city's 24-hour average AQI was recorded in the 'poor' category at 265 amid residents flouting the firecrackers ban, the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) data showed. According to SAFAR, Delhi's overall air quality was in the 'poor' category with an AQI of 266. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

(With PTI inputs)

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