New Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’; mercury dips to 10.5°C
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) for the Capital at 8am was 344. Wednesday’s AQI reading was 375
New Delhi’s air quality improved only marginally on Thursday to remain in the “very poor” category for the second day in a row, while weathermen predicted shallow fog in the morning with the mercury showing a lowest temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius and a highest of 27 degrees Celsius predicted for later in the day.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed that the hourly air quality index (AQI) for the Capital at 8am was 344. Wednesday’s AQI reading was 375.
On the weather front, New Delhi had recorded a minimum temperature of 9.6 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, while the maximum temperature recorded was 27.5 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature is expected to dip to 10 degrees Celsius on Friday after which it is expected to rise up to 12 degrees Celsius during the weekend, according to the Indian Meteorological Department’s weekly forecast.
While the winter is likely to be colder than normal, New Delhi hasn’t yet recorded any western disturbances this month, which is unusual. Experts say that there has not been any active western disturbance over the city after October 24.The minimum temperatures are expected to remain in the same range until a weather disturbance is recorded.
On Wednesday, the ministry of earth sciences’ air quality monitoring centre, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said the AQI was likely to improve slightly but remain “very poor” over the next two days.
Also Read: Stubble fires go past 2020 tally, rise four-fold since November 1
“The AQI today (Wednesday) indicates very poor category and is likely to improve but remain the same for the next two days as transport-level winds are coming from the eastern direction, preventing the intrusion of pollutants from the upwind region,” it said.
“Local surface winds are low… resulting in poor ventilation of near-surface pollutants. From November 20, surface winds are likely to be strong, resulting in effective dispersion that improves air quality. The effective farm fire count is 2,643 and its contribution to New Delhi’s PM2.5 today (Wednesday) is 6%,” SAFAR said.