Strong winds help clean up Delhi air, AQI now ‘poor’

Strong winds came to the aid of Delhi residents on Thursday, and helped disperse accumulated pollutants with the result that the air quality improved considerably

Strong winds came to the aid of Delhi residents on Thursday, and helped disperse accumulated pollutants with the result that the air quality improved considerably to enter the “poor” category on the air quality index. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said till December 13, air quality in Delhi will continue to improve and may even reach the “moderate” category.

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The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data shows that the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi on Thursday was 284, in the poor zone. On Wednesday, the AQI was 358, in the ‘very poor’ category.

VK Soni, head of IMD’s environment monitoring research centre, said the wind speed started improving from Wednesday night and its impact was seen in the air quality on Thursday.

“The wind speed on Thursday was around 10kmph to 12kmph. The winds started picking up from Wednesday and we saw its impact in the drastic improvement in the air quality. Even though the direction of the wind was north-westerly, the contribution of farm fires from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana is zero now,” Soni said.

He also said Delhi residents may well be able to breathe clean air at least till December 13. “The AQI will continue to improve and is likely to reach the ”moderate” range by Saturday,” Soni said.

“There is a forecast of light rain in Delhi-NCR from Saturday night to Sunday morning, the wind speed will also remain high on those days,” he said.

Delhi is also likely to experience a severe winter spell from December 14, IMD scientists said. Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said after the passing of a western disturbance, the minimum temperature in Delhi is expected to fall by at least three to four degrees.

“From December 14, the temperature will start falling again. North-westerly winds from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, which have been receiving a good spell of snowfall, will bring the chill to the plains,” he said.

On Thursday, the minimum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung observatory ( taken as representative for the whole of Delhi) was 10.9 degrees Celsius, two degrees above the season’s normal. The maximum temperature was 28.3 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal.