Air quality picks up after a month - Hindustan Times
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Air quality picks up after a month

Hindustan Times, Gurugram | ByHT Correspondent
May 20, 2019 11:12 AM IST

Air quality of the city over the last week was the best in at least a month, as per data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Following a spate of ‘very poor’ quality of air between May 10 and 13, the air quality improved to ‘moderate’ for four days, to ‘satisfactory’ for one day and again, ‘very poor’ for one day between May 14 and 19.

Air quality of the city over the last week was the best in at least a month, as per data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A view of Gurugram city, in India, on Sunday, May 19, 2019. After entering the ‘very poor’ quality on May 13, rains and high velocity winds have brought city’s air into its most favorable spate in at least two months with moderate and good air quality days, and just one ‘poor’ day, since then(Yogendra Kumar/Hindustan Times)
A view of Gurugram city, in India, on Sunday, May 19, 2019. After entering the ‘very poor’ quality on May 13, rains and high velocity winds have brought city’s air into its most favorable spate in at least two months with moderate and good air quality days, and just one ‘poor’ day, since then(Yogendra Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Following a spate of ‘very poor’ quality of air between May 10 and 13, the air quality improved to ‘moderate’ for four days, to ‘satisfactory’ for one day and again, ‘very poor’ for one day between May 14 and 19.

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Experts attributed the improvement to recent spells of rain, which have led to higher relative humidity. The accompanying strong winds, of up to 18 kilometres per hour, which facilitated a ventilation index of 26,000 m2/s, enabled effective dispersal of particulate pollutants and long-range transportation of dust. The last time Gurugram had experienced ‘satisfactory’ air was on April 18, when similar meteorological and climatic conditions had prevailed.

On Sunday, Gurugram recorded a score of 144 (‘moderate’) on the CPCB’s air quality index (AQI) bulletin, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 73ug/m3, just slightly above the safe limit of 60ug/m3 (as per the National Ambient Air Quality standards). All other pollutants, including PM10, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone were either in the ‘moderate’ category or lower.

“Pollution levels are expected to remain in the lower end of this category for at least the next three days,” said a scientist at the CPCB’s air quality lab in Delhi. The predicted AQI scores for Gurugram are 99 (‘satisfactory’) on April 20, 126 (‘moderate’) on April 21 and 135 (‘moderate’) on April 22.

Just a week ago, air quality in Delhi-NCR had hit alarming levels, with multiple days of ‘very poor’ air reported in Gurugram between May 6 and 13. This had prompted the CPCB’s air pollution task force to meet after almost three months to address the issue. In its meeting on May 8, the task force pointed at incoming dust-carrying winds from neighbouring Rajasthan and northern Gujarat as one of the main reasons for the sudden spike in pollution levels, which were higher than usual for this time of the year.

“There is currently not much dust being transported from neighbouring states. Moreover, there is higher relative humidity in the atmosphere due to recent rainfall, which makes suspended particulate pollutants heavy and they sink toward the ground, bringing down pollution levels. However, strong winds are still causing re-suspension of dust from local sources, although not to an alarming degree,” said Sachin Panwar, an air quality expert based in
Gurugram.

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