Delhi air in toxic zone, could get worse today
NEW DELHI: Already in the “severe” category, Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further on Friday with the AQI nearly maxing out at several monitoring stations and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning that the pollution levels may rise further and enter the “severe plus” or “emergency” category by Saturday.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings showed the overall air quality index (AQI) in the Capital at 460, deteriorating from Thursday’s 429.
The temperatures in Delhi rose slightly on Friday but IMD scientists said the respite was brief, adding mercury will fall again from Saturday before it starts to rise again on January 18.
On Friday, the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory, considered representative of Delhi’s weather, settled at 6.4 degree Celsius, a notch below the season’s normal.
The maximum temperature was 20.8 degree Celsius. On Thursday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 2 degree Celsius, five degrees less than what is considered normal for the season.
IMD scientists said the minimum temperature would hover around 4-5 degree Celsius on Saturday and Sunday, and would slightly rise from Monday.
CPCB’S hourly recordings of particulate matter levels also showed a rising trend. At 6pm on Friday, the PM 2.5 levels (ultrafine particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres) had remained above the 300ug/m3 mark for over 22 hours. The PM 10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 micrometres) was also inching closer to the 500ug/m3 mark.
The acceptable standards of PM 2.5 levels in India is 60ug/ m3 and for PM 10 is 100ug/m3.
IMD scientists said the pollution levels are expected to get worse through Friday night and the air quality is likely to reach “emergency” levels by Saturday.
VK Soni, head of IMD’S environment monitoring and research centre, said that an improvement is likely only from January 18, when the wind direction will change from north-westerly to easterly.