Delhi records 'poor' air quality; condition likely to improve due to depression over Bay of Bengal, says IMD

Delhi recorded ‘poor’ air quality on Monday morning with the overall air quality index (AQI) at 221. The increase in AQI was due to the rise in concentration of both PM10 and PM2.5 pollutants, a Times Now report said, adding that according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), PM10 pollutants in Delhi were at 197 on Monday morning, which comes under the ‘moderate’ category. The PM2.5 pollutants were recorded at 97, which is under the ‘poor’ category. The report added that PM10 pollutants in Delhi will rise to the figure of 218 on Tuesday. This falls in the ‘moderate’ category. Meanwhile, according to the report, PM2.5 pollutants are expected to increase to 107, which falls under the ‘poor’ category. According to SAFAR, a shift in Delhi surface wind direction, north-westerly to south-easterly by 12 October is forecasted, which could influence air quality positively in the coming week. “Stubble burning fires observed yesterday around Punjab, Haryana, and neighbouring border regions with SAFAR synergized fire count estimated as 448 on 10 October since transport-level wind speed is not so calm, therefore the high accumulation of pollutants in Delhi is not happening,” the report stated. It added that stubble fire has a marginal impact on Delhi AQI and impact is likely to reduce by 13 due to change in wind direction. Poor AQI has also been recorded in Agra, Bulandshahr, Bahadurgarh, Ballabgarh, Bhiwadi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Karnal and other north-western towns, Hindustan Times reported. The report quoted Vijay Soni, a scientist at the air pollution division of India Meteorological Department (IMD), as saying that winds were calm during the evening for the last four to five days and so even though contribution from crop fires is not that high, air quality has worsened due to lack of dispersion. Soni said that the condition will change due to the depression that has developed over the Bay of Bengal.

A report in Business Today report cites analyses by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based think tank, to say that transportation is one of the highest contributors to Delhi’s air pollution, followed by road dust, industries, thermal power plants and construction.