NEW DELHI: The capital’s air quality continued to hover in the very poor category on Monday, with an AQI of 301 recorded at 4pm, considered the day’s standard reading when Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) releases its national bulletin for the 24-hour average AQI. However, hourly readings were not updated between 10:45 pm on Sunday and Monday noon — CPCB blamed it on a technical glitch — just after a similar AQI data blackout from Sunday noon to 10.45pm on both its website and its Sameer app. As a result, CPCB could shared its daily 4 pm bulletin at only 10:45 pm on Sunday.
On Monday, CPCB data showed AQI stuck at 315 in the very poor bracket till noon when it was finally updated to 286 (poor). “Meanwhile, all 39 active stations kept on gathering data of all pollutants. However, due to a technical issue with the network, the readings could not be updated. The problem has been completely resolved with all data now being updated in a timely manner,” a CPCB official said. AQI is calculated by compiling data of eight major pollutants. However, the hourly data of all pollutants, including PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone, were available on Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) website even as the hourly AQI readings were missing. This implied that all these stations were gathering the preliminary data.Similar technical glitches have taken place in the past. On Jan 1 this year, a problem led to data for several Delhi-NCR stations being unavailable. As a result, the daily AQI bulletin could not be issued. On Nov 14, 2023, data was available for only nine of the city’s 40 stations after DPCC stations were unable to transmit their readings to CPCB. Meanwhile, a haze hung over the city on Monday. The Decision Support System, which estimates the contribution of varied local and regional sources of pollution in Delhi‘s PM2.5, stated that the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s air was 4.3%. The air quality is likely to remain in the poor category from Tuesday to Thursday, according to Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, which functions under the Union ministry of earth sciences. The AQI may fluctuate between poor and very poor in the subsequent six days. The city has already recorded six very poor air days in Oct so far. Govt plans to conduct cloud seeding today With the city witnessing overcast skies under the influence of a western disturbance, Delhi govt is planning to conduct cloud seeding on Tuesday. Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “We initially thought of carrying it out on Monday, but it could not be done due to the height of the cloud. However, we may attempt to carry out artificial rain on Tuesday if the meteorological factors are feasible.”India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted one or two spells of very light rain or drizzle during the early morning hours on Tuesday. Last Thursday, chief minister Rekha Gupta announced that Delhi govt will carry out artificial rain on Oct 29 after conducting a trial. Cloud seeding is a weather-modification measure that introduces substances in the air to aggregate and condense moisture particles into rain.
