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Delhi wakes up to 'very poor' AQI amid fears of Ethiopian volcanic ash impact
Volcanic ash from Ethiopia raised concerns about its impact on Delhi's air quality, but experts predict minimal effects on AQI levels.
Delhi's air quality improved ever so slightly on Tuesday while an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Ethiopia triggered concerns of affect on Air Quality Index (AQI), which has remained close to the 'severe' category in the national capital and its adjoining cities for days now.
At around 8 am, Delhi's overall AQI stood at 362 - ‘very poor’ category - according to data in Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app, which monitors air quality. Track latest updates on Ethiopian volcanic ash eruption
AQI today and affect of Ethiopian volcanic ash
-Delhi AQI today: The AQI at all but one of the 39 monitoring stations of Delhi listed on Sameer app at 8 am remained below the 400 mark or the ‘severe’ level but remained in the 'very poor' category. At 416, Delhi's Rohini station had the worst AQI while the best was at Mandir Marg - 289. As per CPCB standards, an AQI between 0-50 is 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. On Monday, Delhi's overall AQI at the same time was 382.
-Ethiopian volcanic ash: As Delhi-NCR residents continued to breathe toxic air, a thick cloud of volcanic ash from Ethiopia’s Hayli Gubbi volcano, which erupted for the first time in thousands of years, reached northwest India on Monday night, according to meteorological experts, leading to concerns of impact on the already very poor AQI.
-Will volcanic ash affect Delhi AQI? IMD director general M Mohapatra told HT on Monday that affect of the volcanic ash on Delhi's AQI was unlikely as the plumes were in the "upper-levels", hence people will not see a significant impact near the surface. "It will appear as a hazy, cloudy sky with its impact expected for a few hours, as it continues to move further eastwards,” an earlier HT report quoted Mohapatra as saying.
-Significant impact unlikely: IMD director general M Mohapatra said that the impact on cities “will mainly be a marginal rise in the temperature. ”Similar to clouds, the minimum will rise. It is unclear whether it will impact air quality, but any significant impact is unlikely as it is at higher levels," he said.
-Mumbai AQI: Mumbai’s AQI continued to remain in the moderate category on Tuesday, with a reading of 178, slightly higher than that of Monday when the city logged 174. Mazgaon recorded the worst AQI of 276 (very poor), while the best - 80 - was at the Sion monitoring station.
