Sepia haze blankets Delhi as AQI worsens; transport emissions likely to remain top polluter

Sepia haze blankets Delhi as AQI worsens; transport emissions likely to remain top polluter

New Delhi, A thick, sepia-coloured haze shrouded the national capital on Thursday, blurring its skyline, leaving residents coughing and gasping for breath with burning eyes, as the city's air quality deteriorated, underscoring the growing public health crisis.

Sepia haze blankets Delhi as AQI worsens; transport emissions likely to remain top polluter

As protests demanding the basic right to clean air continued across the city, Delhi's 24-hour average Air Quality Index climbed to 350, firmly in the 'very poor' category, from 313 recorded on Thursday.

Of the 57 air quality monitoring stations that recorded data on Thursday, 10 were in the 'severe' category, 42 in the 'very poor' category, four in the 'poor' category and only one in the 'moderate' category.

The Delhi Cantonment monitoring station recorded the city's best air quality, with an average AQI of 138, in the 'moderate' category.

The India Meteorological Department reported shallow fog and poor visibility at both Safdarjung and Palam during the morning hours.

At Safdarjung, visibility dropped to 800 metres between 6.30 am and 8 am before improving marginally to 900 metres at 8.30 am. At Palam, visibility remained at 800 metres between 7.30 am and 8 am, improving to 1,000 metres at 8.30 am.

PM10 was the predominant pollutant in the national capital on Thursday.

Residents were left with little choice but to brave the thick blanket of dust and smog, many wearing masks, even as complaints of persistent coughing, burning eyes and breathing discomfort continued across the city.

The transport sector is expected to remain the largest contributor to Delhi's pollution over the next few days, while the contribution of stubble burning is likely to remain relatively low, according to a revised forecast released on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Decision Support System for Delhi, transport emissions are expected to account for around 16 per cent of the city's pollution load on Thursday, while stubble burning is estimated to contribute 8.9 per cent.

The transport sector's contribution is projected to rise to 18.5 per cent on Friday, even as the share of stubble burning is expected to decline further to 5.3 per cent.

On Saturday, transport emissions are likely to account for 20.5 per cent of the pollution load, while stubble burning's contribution is forecast at 13.29 per cent.

The revised projections mark a shift from Wednesday's forecast, which had indicated a sharp increase in the contribution of stubble burning, with its share expected to rise to around 20 per cent on Thursday.

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, concentrations of particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 are also expected to increase over the next two days, potentially worsening the city's air quality.

Experts have repeatedly warned about the health risks associated with prolonged exposure to high concentrations of particulate matter, particularly PM2.5, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, affecting several organs.

Additionally, satellite data showed that 874 farm-fire incidents were detected across six states on Wednesday.

Of these, 515 incidents were reported in Punjab, 179 in Madhya Pradesh, 129 in Uttar Pradesh, 40 in Rajasthan, eight in Haryana and three in Uttarakhand.

A total of 10,466 farm-fire incidents have been detected across the six states between September 15 and November 11, according to a bulletin issued by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space Laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.