Marginal change in Delhi’s air quality, still in emergency levels

The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) value at 9:30 am on Monday was 437. It had touched 494 around 4 pm on Sunday.

Delhi continued to be shrouded under a thick blanket of smoke and dust as pollution levels continued to hover close to “emergency” levels on Monday morning even though there has been a marginal improvement since Sunday.

The air quality is expected to come out of the emergency and severe zones by Tuesday and reach “very poor” levels. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) value at 9:30 am on Monday was 437. It had touched 494 around 4 pm on Sunday. The average level of PM2.5 – the finer and more harmful of the particulates – was more than seven times around 9 am. It had shot up to nine times on Sunday.

Government agencies have said that with winds likely to pick up there could be some improvement on Monday. The air quality is expected to come out of the emergency and severe zones by Tuesday and reach “very poor” levels.

The odd-even road rationing measure to cut down on vehicular pollution has been rolled out by the Delhi government from Monday. The administration has already shut down schools and banned construction activities.

Scientists had said that it was the scanty rain on Saturday evening that pushed up moisture levels in the air which in turn trapped pollutants close to the ground. Calm winds failed to flush out the pollutants and aggravated the situation.

“The wind speed was just around 4–6 km per hour till around 8:30 am on Monday after which it picked up and the speed increased to around 20 kmph. Delhi would need strong winds to flush out the pollutants that have accumulated,” said India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.

Several areas in the city such as Alipur, Dilshad Garden, DTU, Karni Singh shooting range, Ashok Vihar, Jahangirpuri, Narela, Bawana, Anand Vihar and Burari were still showing AQI above 450 on a scale of 0–500. This indicated severe levels of pollution.