The air quality index in Delhi is dangerously near the severe mark again, hovering in the ‘very poor’ category for the seventh consecutive day.
As of 8 am on Thursday, the AQI in the Capital stood at 399, just a point below the ‘severe’ mark. Meanwhile, 20 air quality monitoring stations in the Capital were above the ‘severe’ category, with Wazirpur recording the highest AQI at 477. Lodhi Road was registering the best air quality at 272.
The air quality has been deteriorating gradually over the last three days, with the overall AQI being 392 on Wednesday, 374 on Tuesday, and 351 on Monday, according to the CPCB.
The CPCB classifies the air quality as ‘good’ in the AQI is in the range 0-50, ‘satisfactory’ between 51 and 100, ‘moderate’ between 101 and 200, ‘poor’ between 201 and 300, ‘very poor’ between 301 and 400, and ‘severe’ above 400.
Top points on Delhi-NCR AQI
• According to forecasts for Delhi by the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS), the AQI will stay in the ‘very poor’ category on November 20 and 21. However, it will deteriorate to the ‘severe’ category on November 22 owing to unfavourable meteorological conditions, according to an earlier HT report.
• “The outlook for the subsequent six days from November 23 onwards shows the air quality is likely to be between ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ category,” the EWS bulletin says.
• However, the impact of stubble burning in the National Capital Region is reducing after a change in the wind direction, data from the Decision Support System (DSS) over the past few days indicates. The contribution of stubble burning to PM2.5 in Delhi was 3.88% on Wednesday, down from 5.43% on Tuesday and 16.13% on Monday.
• The three cities in the country, which witnessed ‘severe’ air quality were Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida. All 10 of the most polluted cities in India on Wednesday were in the National Capital Region.
• Ghaziabad, with an AQI reading of 422, was the most polluted city on Wednesday, according to data from the CPCB. The air quality in Greater Noida stood at 420, and Noida at 409.
• Ankit Kumar, regional officer of the UP Pollution Control Board in Ghaziabad, told HT that there was “hardly any dispersal of pollutants.” Mahesh Palawat, vice president for meteorology and climate change at Skymet Weather, said this condition would likely prevail for the next two to three days.