Delhi AQI still in “very poor” zone
Delhi's air quality remains "very poor" despite slight wind speed increase; AQI improved to 352, but pollution levels expected to persist.
The Capital on Saturday recorded a slight uptick in wind speed, but that was not enough to significantly improve the pollution levels as Delhi logged yet another day with its air quality in “very poor” zone.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the wind speed in Delhi rose to 8-10kmph on Saturday, from the 4-6kmph on Friday. In addition, data shared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) revealed that Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality (AQI) reading was 352 on Saturday, an improvement on the 380 recorded the previous day.
“The wind that primarily prevailed on Saturday was from the east. The wind speed, however, had increased to 8-10kmph, leading to higher dispersal of pollutants,” Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, said.
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Krishna Mishra, a scientist at IMD, said, “Easterlies have been prevailing over most parts of northwest India for the past few days and it is likely to prevail for the next three to four days in the northwest region, including Delhi.”
The increased wind speed also helped improve visibility. “Mist or shallow fog had been reported at Safdarjung airport. Safdarjung airport recorded lowest visibility at 600 metres at 7am, which improved to 900m at 8.30am and 1,200m at 5.30pm,” an IMD official said.
In addition, the number of AQI monitoring stations which went into the “severe” zone dropped to just two — Bawana and New Moti Bagh— compared to 12 the day before.
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However, forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) suggest that Delhi’s air quality will continue to be in the “very poor” category for the next few days.
Meanwhile, the Capital recorded yet another warm day on Saturday, as the maximum temperature was recorded at 32.5 degrees Celsius (°C), three notches above normal and up from 31.7°C a day before. The minimum stood at 18.3°C, four degrees above normal and 0.2°C higher than the previous day’s 18.1°C. Forecasts suggest that the temperatures are likely to remain similar on Sunday too.