Capital’s air still ‘very poor’ but concentration of PM 2.5, 10 drops

NEWDELHI: The air quality of Delhi NCR continued to remain ‘very poor’ on Wednesday even as particulate matter in the air continued to plummet.

The average AQI of the city had dipped to 308 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the AQI shot up to 361. Experts claim that this is because AQI considers other parameters such as Ozone, SO2, NO2, among other gases. Particulate matter is one such parameter. So a fall in level of particulate matter doesn’t necessarily means that AQI would also drop.

“The levels of particulate matter have already dropped considerably since Sunday, the day when both PM10 and PM2.5 levels reached their peak. They have dropped to pre-Diwali levels at present,” said D Saha, head of air quality laboratory at CPCB.

While PM10 level has dropped from ‘severe+’ level to ‘poor’ level, the concentration of PM2.5 has plummeted to ‘very poor’ levels on Wednesday. They are likely to remain in the same range for the next two days at least.

Delhi was supposed to receive very light rain and drizzle on Wednesday. But sudden changes in the weather disrupted the process. Experts said that the wind speed increased scattering the clouds to some extent.

While all states in northwest India including Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh received some rain, Delhi was left dry. A western disturbance triggered the rain.