New Delhi (NVI): Slow wind speed plunged the overall air quality in Delhi back into ‘moderate’ category today, a day after it had improved to ‘satisfactory’ level at 83 for the first time in around two months.
According to SAFAR, the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded 114 near IGI airport and 125 around India Gate while some parts of the national capital region still reeled under poor air quality.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’. An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category.
Experts attributed the marginal dip in the air quality today to the slow wind speed of 6-8 kilometers per hour. Dense fog has begun to set in parts of north-western India, including Punjab and West Haryana, which may prevent dispersal of pollutants.
On Friday, Delhi’s air quality was better than that of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Pune as thundershowers and scattered rains in the northern parts and increased windspeed helped reduce pollution levels.
Meanwhile, the impact of stubble burning was low, with easterly winds helping. As per SAFAR multi-satellite product estimate, only 77 fire counts were detected on Thursday. “No significant stubble impact is expecting in Delhi over the next two days,” it said. Localized dust lifting has also been low.
While Delhi heaves a sigh of relief, other cities in the neighboring states continue to battle air pollution. As of Friday, air quality was ‘very poor’ in Varanasi, Kanpur, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and Patna and Muzzafarpur in Bihar.
-nad
