Gurugram least polluted in NCR although city air remains toxic

Air quality in the city remained “poor” on Tuesday, recording 296 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin, up from 285 the previous day in the same category. Gurugram was the least polluted city in the National Capital Region (NCR) with the AQI in Delhi and Noida staying in the “very poor” category. Ghaziabad stayed in the “severe” category.

Experts attributed the poor AQI to slow wind speeds due to which pollutants couldn’t be dispersed.

The level of ultrafine particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5), which has a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5), the city’s primary pollutant, was 243.38 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) on Tuesday, 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 further and remain in the “very poor” category on Wednesday. The air quality is expected to improve but remain in the “very poor“category on Thursday.

Gurugram’s minimum temperature settled at 9.6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Palam Observatory in Delhi, 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 Tuesday. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius, as per the Palam observatory.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said that temperature will continue to be in a similar range on account of a western disturbance over the next 2-3 days. “After the western disturbance passes, cold winds will again start blowing from the region and the mercury is again set to dip from November 27,” said Srivastava.

As per IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum temperature will hover around 23 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature is expected to stay at eight degrees. As per the weekly forecast, fog and mist will prevail in the morning hours on Wednesday followed by partly cloudy skies later during the day.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality took a turn for the worse on Tuesday, sparking fears that meteorological conditions and local pollution sources could choke the city for days yet again. Government agencies have forecast that the air quality could enter the ‘severe’ zone on Wednesday. The city’s air quality index (AQI) on Tuesday settled at 379, in the upper end of the “very poor” zone, according to CPCB’s recordings at 4pm. Ghaziabad emerged as the most polluted city in the country for the third consecutive day. Experts pointed out that since stubble burning count from other states had reduced considerably, local pollutants now have a major impact over the air quality.