Gurugram air quality to worsen over the next week

Gurugram Despite the city having ‘satisfactory’ air, as per the air quality index, experts said that the air quality in the city will deteriorate after Dussehra

Gurugram Despite the city having ‘satisfactory’ air, as per the air quality index, experts said that the air quality in the city will deteriorate after Dussehra celebrations and will remain in the upper-end of ‘moderate’ or in the ‘poor’ category.

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On Tuesday, the city had a reading of 78 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI), the least polluted among cities located in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The falling minimum temperature, diminishing the chance of rain and a change in the wind direction in the region are factors that would likely lead to a worse air quality worse and cause settling of internal air pollutants arising from firecrackers.

When the minimum temperature drops, pollutants get trapped at a lower level in the atmosphere, leading to a smog-like situation and a worsening of the AQI, said experts.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature is likely to fall to around 18 degrees Celsius in the next few days, from the 20 degrees Celsius recorded on Tuesday.

The IMD has also predicted largely dry weather this week in Haryana, Delhi and Punjab, with almost negligible chance of rainfall. “Rain washes away settled pollutants to a certain extent. Unless the city receives a significant amount of rainfall, which is unlikely the coming few days, the pollutants will stay suspended in the air,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based air quality expert.

Officials at the IMD said the winds have changed from the clean and moist easterly and south-easterly (during the monsoon) to the drier westerly and north-westerly pattern. The change in the wind direction is likely to carry smoke from stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab in the next few days, experts said.

“The westerly and north-westerly winds are dry and cold in nature, and flow towards Delhi and NCR during the post-monsoon period. The winds are major carriers of pollutants from Punjab and Haryana, where crop stubble is burnt,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the IMD.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature on Tuesday was recorded at 31 degrees Celsius and saw a minimal change from Monday’s maximum temperature. The maximum temperature is likely to fall by a degree in the next four to five days, as per the IMD.