Mercury soars, air quality worsens in Noida as monsoon delayed

Noida: The daytime mercury in the city on Wednesday crossed 40 degrees Celsius (°C) mark — a six degrees rise over the past two days — as the delayed monsoon led to dry weather in the region

Noida: The daytime mercury in the city on Wednesday crossed 40 degrees Celsius (°C) mark — a six degrees rise over the past two days — as the delayed monsoon led to dry weather in the region. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature will hover around 41°C on Thursday as well.

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IMD also said that the monsoon is only expected in the first week of July, refusing to give a fixed date.

On Wednesday, IMD recorded maximum and minimum temperatures for Noida at 40.5°C and 28°C, respectively, against 39.8°C and 27.4°C a day earlier. On Monday, Noida had recorded the daytime temperature at 34°C.

At the Safdarjung monitoring station, considered average for the National Capital Region, the maximum and minimum temperatures on Wednesday were recorded at 40.7°C and 28.6°C, respectively.

“The monsoon has been delayed and is only expected to arrive in the first week of July. The dry westerly winds would continue, and the maximum temperature may rise slightly on Thursday. There are chances of patchy rains on June 25 and 26 due to formation of convective cloud, which may lead to slight drop in mercury but not below 38°C,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.

On June 11, the IMD had forecast that the south-west monsoon would hit the region by June 15. However, in a later forecast, the Met department said that its arrival was delayed by 10-12 days.

The monsoon generally hits the region late June with 65cm (long period average) of rainfall expected between June 1 and September 30 and considered normal for Delhi-NCR, including Noida (average based on old records). Last year, however, the region received 57.6cm of rainfall, which was about 88% of long period average.

Meanwhile, the air quality of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad deteriorated from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ category over the past 24 hours “due to transport of dust from arid region”, pollution monitoring agencies said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Noida on Wednesday was 227 (‘poor’) against 127 a day earlier. Similarly, the AQI of Greater Noida was 240 against 116 a day earlier, while Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 225 against 137 a day earlier.

An AQI level up to 100 is considered ‘good’, between 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’ and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the pollution levels are likely to spike for short range of time. “Surface winds are moderate and westerly. Although ventilation is favourable for dispersion, an increase in dust long-range transport is expected for the next three days. AQI is likely to deteriorate,” said a SAFAR statement on Wednesday.