Air quality in poor zone as haze clears up

The air quality in the city improved on Wednesday, with Gurugram recording an air quality index (AQI) of 296 (poor), an improvement from the AQI of 347 (very poor)

The air quality in the city improved on Wednesday, with Gurugram recording an air quality index (AQI) of 296 (poor), an improvement from the AQI of 347 (very poor) on Tuesday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily bulletin.

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Gurugram was the least polluted city in the National Capital Region (NCR) as the AQI in neighbouring Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad stayed in the very poor and severe categories. Experts attributed the relatively better air quality to lesser haze.

“The air quality in Gurugram is relatively better in comparison to other cities due to lesser haze. The haze disappeared around 11am whereas, in Delhi, the haze build-up lasted for a longer time,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based independent air quality scientist. Panwar said that the air quality would deteriorate in the morning hours on Thursday due to fog but might recover during the latter part of the day.

The level of ultrafine particulate matter having a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5), the city’s primary pollutant, was 304.8 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) on Wednesday, as per the CPCB’s air quality monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11.

According to the early air quality warning system for Delhi-NCR, the air quality is likely to deteriorate marginally and remain in the very poor category on Thursday. The air quality is likely to improve from Friday evening and reach the lower-end of the very poor category. The air quality is expected to improve significantly during the weekend on account of light rain, due to a new western disturbance.

Gurugram’s minimum temperature settled at 12.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Palam observatory, which, according to the MeT department officials, gives a fairly accurate reading of the city’s weather. The IMD’s automatic weather station (AWS) did not record the city’s minimum temperature on Wednesday. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 25.4 degrees Celsius.

As per the weekly IMD forecast, moderate fog is expected on Thursday while the temperature is expected to stay in a similar range. Scattered rain is likely during the weekend.

Mahesh Palawat, director at Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, said that a dip in temperature could be expected around December 15. He said that temperatures were higher due to an increased frequency of western disturbances and the current wind direction being easterly.

“Until November, there was a gap of 8-10 days between western disturbances. However, the frequency and intensity of western disturbance have increased in December. They are approaching one after another and when a series of western disturbances approach, the flow of northerly winds gets obstructed due to formation of an induced cyclonic circulation over northern plains and the temperature increases. The easterly winds are also warmer in nature,” said Palawat.