Air very poor, fog to persist

Air quality in the city remained “very poor” on Monday, recording 357 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin, in the same

Air quality in the city remained “very poor” on Monday, recording 357 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin, in the same range recorded a day prior, when an AQI of 325 was recorded on Sunday. Dense fog was also observed in the morning hours, but visibility information was not available for Gurugram on Monday.

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Despite the slight deterioration in air quality, Gurugram remained the least polluted city in the National Capital Region on Monday, followed by Faridabad, which recorded an AQI of 388. Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida, meanwhile, all recorded “severe” air, with AQI of 400 or more.

As per official forecasts, air quality over the region is expected to improve over the next five days, with northwesterly winds between eight to ten kilometres per hour expected to prevail. Monday’s early air quality warning bulletin for Delhi-NCR stated, “Air quality is likely to improve but remain in very poor category 08.12.2020 and 09.12.2020.”

As per the central control room for air quality management in Delhi, Gurugram’s predicted AQI for December 8 is 296, which would be in the “poor” level.

“As we have been seeing throughout the past few weeks, Gurugram is benefitting from the direction of the wind, which originates in the west and transports pollutants eastward. If you look at Manesar, which lies even further west of Delhi than Gurugram, the air quality there is slightly better. Whereas Ghaziabad and Noida, which lie to the east, are seeing worse air quality,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based air quality scientist.

While Manesar recorded an AQI of 318 on Monday, Ghaziabad and Noida recorded AQIs of 438 and 422, respectively.

Gurugram’s minimum temperature settled at 13.7 degrees Celsius on Monday, 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 city recorded a maximum temperature of 24 degrees Celsius, four degrees below the normal.

The IMD’s automatic weather station (AWS) did not record the city’s minimum temperature on Tuesday. As per the weekly IMD forecast, dense fog is expected to prevail on Tuesday while the temperature will hover in a similar range.