Gurugram air ‘very poor’, situation likely to persist till weekend

Gurugram: The air quality in Gurugram remained in the ‘very poor’ category at 330 on Wednesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI)

Gurugram: The air quality in Gurugram remained in the ‘very poor’ category at 330 on Wednesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI). The AQI was recorded at 316 on Tuesday.

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According to official forecasts, there would not be any significant improvement in the air quality due to slow wind speeds till February 21.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Environment Monitoring and Research Center head VK Soni said the pollution levels may reduce after February 21 following a spike in the temperature, which may lead to an increase in the vertical height at which suspended particles mix with the air.

“The wind speed is expected to remain about 10 kilometres per hour, but the spike in temperatures will cause an upward movement of air and increase the ventilation index,” said Soni. The ventilation index indicates the rate of dispersion of air pollutants.

As per the early air quality warning system for Delhi-NCR, the ventilation index is likely to increase from approximately 3000 m2/s on Wednesday to 5000 m2/s on Friday.

While the IMD’s Automatic Weather Station (AWS) for Gurugram did not record a minimum temperature on Wednesday, the AWS at the Palam observatory in Delhi recorded the day’s minimum temperature at 13.7° Celsius, while the maximum temperature stood at 26.9° Celsius.

As per the IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover between 28° Celsius and 13° Celsius respectively, over the next few days. Shallow to moderate fog will envelope the city in the morning.