Delhi’s air quality improves marginally, still in ‘very poor’ category

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reading in Delhi dropped to 364 on Friday, a marginal decline from the previous day, but remained in the 'very poor' category even as 12 monitoring stations recorded air quality in the ‘severe’ zone. The 24-hour average AQI settled at 364 in the ‘very poor’ category for the eighth consecutive day. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average AQI stood at 391 on Thursday, 392 on Wednesday, 374 on Tuesday, and 351 on Monday. Data from the CPCB’s Sameer app, which displays AQI readings from all monitoring stations across Delhi, showed that out of 38 operational stations, 12 recorded AQI levels in the ‘severe’ category, compared to 19 stations a day earlier. These include stations at DTU, Bawana, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Narela, Rohini, Vivek Vihar, Jahangirpuri and Ashok Vihar, where AQI levels crossed the 400 mark. 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’.

Meanwhile, the Decision Support System (DSS) of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, estimated that vehicular emissions contributed 16.2 per cent to Delhi’s pollution on Thursday, while stubble burning accounted for 1.8 per cent For Saturday, these contributions are projected at 14.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively. Satellite imagery detected 12 farm fires in Punjab, 2 in Haryana and 98 in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. According to Government of India data, from September to November 20, Punjab reported around 5,000 farm fire cases, Uttar Pradesh 4,600, and Haryana 592. In comparison, during the wheat-harvesting season in summer, Punjab reported 47,000 cases, Uttar Pradesh 45,000, and Haryana 9,700. On the weather front, the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.2 degree celsius, 1.1 degrees below normal, while the maximum settled at 28.2 degree celsius, 0.4 degrees above normal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). For Saturday, the IMD has forecast moderate fog, with maximum and minimum temperatures expected to hover around 26 and 11 degree celsius, respectively.