Impact of stubble fires in Delhi’s air to stay negligible this week

According to Safar, the predominant pollutant in Delhi’s air on Monday was PM 10, which is particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres, or dust

Delhi’s air quality on Tuesday morning stayed in the moderate category with a marginal improvement since Monday. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the hourly Air Quality Index (AQI) was 163 at 7am today, better than Monday’s overall AQI of 166 in the capital city.

Delhi’s air quality index was likely to stay in the moderate band for the next three days due to prevailing conditions. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

A senior scientist from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that while the direction of winds blowing into the capital had changed from easterly to north-westerly from October 6, coinciding with the withdrawal of monsoon , the impact of stubble fires was still negligible in Delhi’s air.

“Currently, there is negligible impact of stubble fires in Delhi’s air. The wind speeds are also reasonably higher, which is helping disperse the pollutants. This is likely to remain the case through this week and because of this, the AQI is also expected to remain in the moderate zone,” the IMD scientist said.

Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring system, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar) said that on Monday, the predominant pollutant in Delhi’s air was PM 10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres) or dust.

“Delhi’s AQI is in the moderate category with PM10 as the main pollutant. Due to very dry conditions, local dust gets re-suspended leading to high PM10,” Safar’s air quality assessment said, and added, “This condition is leading to moderate AQI in Delhi, and will keep so for the next three days.”