City air deteriorates to ‘very poor’, likely to worsen over the weekend

Air quality in the city deteriorated on Friday, clocking in a “very poor” reading of 334 (up from Thursday’s “poor” reading of 293) on the Central Pollution Control

Air quality in the city deteriorated on Friday, clocking in a “very poor” reading of 334 (up from Thursday’s “poor” reading of 293) on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI) bulletin.

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Pollution levels are expected to rise over the weekend and may improve after the passage of a western disturbance, causing rain over parts of north India after November 15, as per official forecast.

After a recent spate of “severe” air, pollution levels in Gurugram improved considerably over Tuesday and Wednesday. “This was thanks to easterly winds of up to 12kmph, which helped disperse some of the pollutants. However, these gains were lost on Friday, when winds started blowing from the west once again, at a slower pace, about 6 to 8kmph,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based independent air quality scientist.

Experts also said that air quality is predicted to deteriorate from Diwali night on November 14. Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and the head of Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said, “With this change in wind direction and velocity, more pollutants will accumulate over Delhi-NCR. However, we may also witness a spell of rain after November 15, which will improve conditions.” Around this time, temperature is also expected to reduce by at least 4°C as a result of the rain, he added.

The level of ultrafine particulate matter, PM2.5 — the city’s primary pollutant — was 316ug/3 on Friday, up from 241.12 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) on Thursday, as per the CPCB’s air quality monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11. A similar increase in concentration was observed across all four air quality monitoring stations in Gurugram, with Sector 51 remaining the most polluted, with an average 24 PM2.5 reading of 351ug/m3.

According to the early air quality warning system for Delhi-NCR, “The air quality is likely to deteriorate and remain in upper end of very poor to severe category on 14.11.2020. The air quality is likely to improve and remain in severe to very poor on 15.11.2020. The significant improvement in air quality is likely from 16.11.2020 under the influence of a Western Disturbance.” As per the CPCB’s central control room for air quality management, Gurugram is expected to clock in an AQI between 330 and 360 (very poor) over the weekend.