Gurugram’s air quality deteriorates from poor to very poor

Air quality experts attributed the decline to a change in wind direction that occurred on Wednesday night and brought pollutants into the region from Punjab and Haryana

Change in wind direction and extremely low wind speed led to a rapid deterioration of the city’s air from “poor” on Wednesday to “very poor” on Thursday with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 362, data from Central Pollution Control Board’s daily bulletin showed.

Vehicles ply amid low visibility due to a thick layer of smog at Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. (ANI)

Air quality experts attributed the decline to a change in wind direction that occurred on Wednesday night and brought pollutants into the region from Punjab and Haryana. According to experts and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology the air quality is likely to remain in the “very poor” category on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as pollutants continue to accumulate over Delhi-NCR.

An AQI reading between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

“The predominant surface wind is likely to be blowing from the southeast direction in Delhi with wind speed 4-6kmph and a clear sky on Friday. The ventilation index will be lower than 6,000 m2/s with average wind speed less than 10kmph, which is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants,” the six-day forecast by IITM said.

Following the rise in pollution, which is expected to increase further, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram on Thursday said they will take steps to increase the sprinkling of water on roads and dust hot spots. Several tankers have already been deployed and if the need arises, more will be pressed into service.

Sachin Panwar, city-based air quality expert stressed the need for authorities to control sources of pollution. “The air quality is likely to deteriorate further in the coming days and peak in the first week of November. There is a need for the authorities to prevent dust pollution and burning of waste,” he said.

CPCB, meanwhile, said that fine particles contributed the most to PM10, the main pollutant, while the share of stubble fire emissions in the pollution over Delhi-NCR was meagre.