NEW DELHI: The city recorded the 16th very poor day in Nov as the air quality index (AQI) settled at 364 on Friday. It was 391 a day earlier.Though the earlier forecast suggested that AQI might turn severe on Saturday, the latest one says that the air quality is likely to remain in the very poor category over the next few days. Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) data shows that out of the 39 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations in the city, 11 recorded severe AQI with readings crossing 400. Mundka was the most polluted with an AQI of 442, followed by Bawana at 429 and Jahangirpuri at 428.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at Skymet Meteorology, said, “Light variable winds prevailed in the city on Friday. The mercury, which saw a marginal rise, is expected to drop in the next two days.” He added that no improvement in meteorological conditions was expected in the next few days.Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the forecasting body under the Union earth sciences ministry, said the air quality was likely to stay very poor on the weekend and for almost the entire next week. According to Decision Support System (DSS), which estimates the contribution of various pollution sources to the city’s PM2.5 levels, including emissions from 19 towns in NCR, the share of stubble burning was 1.8% on Friday. Delhi’s transport sector was the biggest contributor at 16.3%, followed by emissions from Ghaziabad at 8.8% and Gautam Budh Nagar at 8.3%, said DSS.
CPCB classifies AQI 0-50 as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor, and over 400 as severe. Its AQI scale tops out at 500.Meanwhile, the maximum temperature at the city’s base station, Safdarjung, was 28.2 degrees Celsius while the minimum settled at 11.2 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal. Forecasts show the minimum temperature is likely to dip and may reach 8-10 degrees Celsius by Tuesday. The maximum temperature is likely to be 25-27 degrees Celsius over the next two days. India Meteorological Department has predicted that shallow fog is likely to continue in the early hours of the day.
