The air quality continued its relentless deterioration in Delhi on Wednesday, with the air quality index (AQI) climbing to 377, deep in the “very poor” category, as a choking haze engulfed the Capital days before Diwali fireworks are expected to add to the pollution burden.
Wednesday marked the fifth consecutive day of deterioration, underlining how rapidly Delhi has slipped from relatively clean conditions to a pollution crisis. But the respite was short-lived. No rainfall was recorded. The pollution monitoring agencies are anticipating the pollution levels to spike further to severe by Friday.
The AQI rose to 117 on Saturday, deteriorated by 144 points to 261 on Sunday, and climbed another 63 points to 324 on Monday. It rose further to 350 on Tuesday before reaching 377 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 29.8°C on Wednesday, 0.7 degrees below the seasonal normal, while the minimum settled at 16.1°C at Safdarjung, according to India Meteorological Department data. Local emission sources contributed 31% and external sources 69% to overall air pollution in the city, with the contribution of stubble burning spiking to 16.2% against 8.2% Tuesday. Earlier reporting noted: The air quality index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, was 377 against 350 a day earlier at 4pm. Earlier reporting noted: According to IITM’s forecast, the share of pollution from stubble burning in neighbouring states has drastically increased, with Decision Support System’s models predicting the share to rise to 20% by Friday – more than the share of vehicular pollution, which so far had dominated the city’s emission inventory.
On Friday, the city recorded an AQI of 60, in the “satisfactory” category, following rain and strong winds. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies AQI readings of 0-50 as “good”, 51-100 as “satisfactory”, 101-200 as “moderate”, 201-300 as “poor”, 301-400 as “very poor” and 401-500 as “severe”.
Earlier reporting noted: AQI worsens, farm fire share up New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further within very poor levels Wednesday, inching closer to the severe category.
