E-Paper
No ‘poor’ air days in Delhi between Aug 1 and Oct 9, govt to share data with SC to prove stubble burning
New Delhi
New Delhi
Between August 1 and October 9 this year, Delhi breathed the cleanest air with the AQI remaining in the ‘satisfactory’ or ‘moderate’ category. But the air quality nosedived from October 9, when stubble burning began in Punjab and Haryana, according to findings by the Delhi government which will be submitted to the Supreme Court on Friday.
HT has accessed the Delhi government’s submission to the court.
Delhi government data shows that this year between August 1 and October 9, there were no ‘poor’ air quality days in the city. During this period, there were nearly 45 days of ‘satisfactory’ air quality and around 25 ‘moderate’ air days. From October 10, the AQI slipped into ‘poor’ category and deteriorated further.
This has been an improvement from last year, when nearly 10 ‘poor’ air days was recorded during the same period.
Using data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) fire mapper, the Delhi government’s submission before the apex court also shows how the increasing fire counts in parts of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh coupled with the change in wind pattern after October 15, became a major reason for the toxic air in Delhi.
A senior Delhi government official said the fact that there wasn’t a single ‘poor’ AQI day in Delhi from August 1 to October 9, speaks volumes of the efforts that the Delhi government and various other agencies have made to control local sources of pollution in the last few years.
“Delhi was moving in the right direction. The sudden spike in air pollution from October 10, however, which the NASA satellite images show coincided with the rapid rise in stubble burning incidents, has spoiled all the hard work done to control the local sources of Delhi’s pollution,” the official said.
He added, “We cannot ignore this fact even as we continue trying to act against the local sources of pollution.”
Environment and weather experts, however, believe that even though stubble burning is a major contributor to Delhi’s air woes, this time the favourable weather, especially the extended monsoon had a huge role to play in controlling Delhi’s pollution levels.
D Saha, former head of the air quality lab of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), said between August and early October meteorological conditions played an important part. After October 15, weather conditions started turning unfavourable for Delhi. This was made worse by the number of stubble burning incidents.
“No one can deny the role of stubble burning on Delhi’s air pollution. In fact, even SAFAR (ministry of earth science’s weather and air quality monitoring centre) data shows that its contribution reached nearly 45%,” Saha said.
