Air quality dips despite winds and favourable weather

Despite good winds and almost favourable weather, the air quality of the national capital and areas around it deteriorated on Friday to 'very-poor' level against 'moderate' a day before.

Local pollution sources being the major reason behind the pollutant, smoke from stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana is currently contributing to eight to 10 per cent of Delhi's pollution, monitoring agencies said.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) at 37 areas of Delhi on Friday was 285 against 217 -- both considered "poor" -- on Thursday, on a scale of 0 to 500. The 11 major regions monitored by Ministry of Earth Science, showed the AQI in "very poor" category with index value of 339.

Despite dry and cold north-westerly winds in Delhi which disperse pollutants, the air quality deteriorated primarily due to high moisture and smoke from stubble burning carried with winds.

According to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the moisture in Delhi's air trapped the pollution coming from local sources.

Earlier on Thursday, the Air Quality improved to poor and moderate category, against "very-poor" on Wednesday and "severe" on Tuesday. The improvement was attributed to wash-away effect due to rains which settled the particle pollutant PM2.5 and PM10, or particles with diameter less than 2.5 and 10mm respectively.

"Air pollution is on the path of reversal and increased after the impact of rain is over and AQI is entering in very poor range. It is likely to deteriorate further by Saturday," SAFAR warning said.

It added, "Fire counts from stubble burning increased in past 24 hours".

The average presence of PM2.5 on Friday was 150 microgrammes per cubic meters, considered "very poor", against 98 on Thursday, considered moderate.

Within NCR, Faridabad was the most polluted with AQI 304 considered "very-poor" against 266 or "poor" a day before.

The AQI was 289 at Greater Noida, 267 at Noida, 279 at Ghaziabad, 235 at Gurugram, all considered "poor".

Region-wise, the air quality was recorded as 'very poor' in Anand Vihar, Rohini, Dwarka subcity, Chandani Chowk, Lodhi Road, Delhi University, Pitampura, Delhi Airport, Mathura Road, Pusa and Dhirpur.

SAFAR advised people to take precautions as there was an "increasing likelihood of respiratory symptoms in sensitive individuals".

"Children and elderly at risk. Everyone may begin to experience some level of discomfort," it said.

--IANS

kd/prs