Sporadic rainfall keeps air quality satisfactory, to dip again soon

Sporadic showers continued in the city for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, persevering its cleansing effort on the city’s air by retaining the air quality

Sporadic showers continued in the city for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, persevering its cleansing effort on the city’s air by retaining the air quality in the satisfactory zone for a second consecutive day. However, experts said that the relief will be short-lived as temperatures are expected to dip again from January 7.

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As per the data shared by the district administration, Gurugram district received between 11 to 17mm of rainfall until 8am on January 5.

Among the tehsils (administrative division) in the area, Gurugram received the least rainfall, at 11mm, followed by Sohna (12mm), Pataudi (14mm), Wazirabad (15mm) and Farrukhnagar (17mm), as per the data.

The automatic weather station (AWS) in Gurugram did not record the day’s minimum and maximum temperature readings, but data from the IMD’s nearest AWS in Delhi’s Palam area showed the minimum temperature to be at 14.4 degrees Celsius, up from 12.3 degrees Celsius on Monday, and the maximum to be at 19.2 degrees Celsius, down from 20.4 degrees Celsius the day prior, on Tuesday.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) seven-day forecast for Gurugram predicts a steep drop in temperature from January 7. From a predicted minimum and maximum temperature readings of 13 degrees Celsius and 21 degrees Celsius, respectively, on January 6, the mercury is expected to drop to a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius on January 7.

“Cloudy skies will help trap the temperature for another day. Thursday onwards, we will have clearer conditions in Delhi-NCR. There is also a lot of moisture in the atmosphere after these rains, and once the clouds have passed, the heat will also dissipate much quicker. The residual moisture will drive down the minimum temperature more sharply, and there will be periods of dense fog in the mornings for about a week,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre.

This phenomenon will also cause air quality to deteriorate rapidly, said experts.

While the city saw satisfactory air for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, with a reading of 83 on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin, experts said that the AQI would return to the upper end of the very poor category within a week.

“Already, wind speeds have slowed down from 20kmph on the weekend, to just about 6 to 8kmph on Tuesday. When the temperature falls, wind speeds will become negligible and particles will remain suspended due to residual moisture. This will result in an airlock over NCR, and pollutants will accumulate with little chance of dispersal,” said Sachin Panwar, a city-based independent air quality scientist.