City’s air quality ‘poor’ for 2nd day, may get worse
City’s AQI may start deteriorating from October 13, ‘towards very poor’. The situation becomes bad if any additional internal (like firecrackers) or external (stubble burning) emission sources contribute to it.
The national capital's air quality remained "poor" on Friday and is likely to slip into the “very poor” category by Sunday, officials said.
The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 208, which falls in the “poor” category. The city experienced poor air quality for the first time this season on Thursday, the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal said that his government will form a special task force to monitor implementation of a declaration signed during a climate summit in Denmark.
Mr Kejriwal also talked about various efforts taken by his government, including the implementation of the odd-even scheme, to clean air quality in Delhi.
“A good news is that Delhi was struggling against high pollution, but now it has gone down by 25 per cent over the last three years,” he said.
However, The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded Delhi's air quality in the “poor” category on Friday, with
an AQI of 216 and PM10 — particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter — and PM2.5 as the prominent pollutants.
Particles narrower than 10 micrometres are the most hazardous because they can get deep into the lungs, and some may even get into the bloodstream. The city's AQI is predicted to slip to 239 on Saturday. The SAFAR said biomass fire counts in Punjab and Haryana have increased significantly over the last two days and will now start influencing Delhi’s AQI.
The national capital's AQI may start deteriorating from October 13, “towards very poor”, it said.
“Late monsoon withdrawal is not good for air quality in North India. During the third and fourth week of October, the temperature will also start to cool. The anticyclone, which persists as part of the withdrawal, along with clear skies and sinking motion will make the atmosphere very stable beneath. Means significantly calm surface winds,” the SAFAR said.
These factors will lead to stagnant weather conditions — low wind speed, descending air, and compressed boundary layer — which favour rapid fine particulate matter formation and accumulation of pollutants. The situation becomes bad if any additional internal (like firecrackers) or external (stubble burning) emission sources contribute to it.