High wind speeds help air quality improve marginally

The air quality in Gurugram remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday, with the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) bulletin recording the air quality

The air quality in Gurugram remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Saturday, with the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) bulletin recording the air quality index (AQI) at 358. This, however, was a slight improvement from the previous day’s AQI of 367, in the same category.

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The level of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 — the city’s primary pollutant — was 360.52µg/m³ on Saturday, as per the data recorded at the CPCB’s air quality monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11. As per the CPCB’s classification, an AQI reading between 301 to 400 is categorised as ‘very poor’ and can lead to breathlessness and respiratory illnesses in cases of prolonged exposure.

According to the early air quality warning system for the National Capital Region (NCR), the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on the weekend. The air quality is expected to improve but remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Monday as well. As per the warning system, an unusual increase in fire counts was observed over Punjab (approximately 4.266 counts) on Friday, which was causing an impact on the air quality. However, a higher wind speed and better ventilation index were favourable towards the improvement in air quality.

Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) regional weather forecasting centre, said that air quality was expected to improve further and stay better till Monday due to a higher wind speed. “Due to the same reason, we have seen improvement in the air quality over the past two days. When the wind speed is low, pollutants accumulate in the air due to poor dispersal,” said Srivastava. An average wind speed less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants.

On Saturday, the city recorded a maximum temperature of 29.4, a degree below Friday’s 30.5 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was recorded at 12 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature is expected to fall by a degree and stay around 11 degrees Celsius on Sunday, as per the IMD’s forecast. Clear skies will prevail on Sunday, as per the IMD’s weekly forecast.