Delhi air quality remains in severe zone, winds likely to bring relief

Weather department scientist VK Soni said that the change in wind direction will also improve wind speeds on Saturday and help disperse pollutants.

Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the severe zone on Saturday, with the hourly average air quality index reading 453 at 7am.

Weather department scientist says the improvement in air quality in Delhi will be visible from Saturday morning. (PTI)

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data shows that the overall air quality index (AQI) in the city was 441, in the severe zone, on Friday. This was a major change from Thursday’s AQI recording of 347, which is categorised as ‘very poor’.

Weather department scientist VK Soni said that the change in wind direction will also improve wind speeds on Saturday and help disperse pollutants.

“Our forecast had said that there was a possibility of the AQI deteriorating on Friday and that was primarily because the wind speeds were down for a large part of the Friday morning. However, the speeds picked up from afternoon after the change in wind direction,” Soni said.

He added that on Saturday, the average wind speeds are likely to be around 15kmph and improvement in air quality will be visible from Saturday morning itself. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has also forecasted a western disturbance to impact the city from Saturday, which will also lead to rainfall activities in some parts of Delhi, bringing further relief from pollutants.