Delhi Pollution: No wind means no smog respite anytime soon

As smog engulfing Luhdiana and other major parts of Punjab School children and commuters faces horrowing time. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

The thick layer of smog that has enveloped Delhi is likely to persist for at least 48 more hours, experts said. Currently, “there is absolutely no wind movement”, and Delhi government officials on Wednesday said that wind movement — likely on Saturday — would be insufficient to disperse all pollutants instantly.

According to a forecast by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research, the average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 will be around 420 and 678 micrograms per cubic metre on Thursday. The safe standard is 60 and 100 micrograms per cubic metre.

Dipankar Saha, head, air laboratory division at CPCB, said, “There is no wind movement. Moreover, temperature is also not coming down, which could have resulted in the conversion of fog into water and subsequent dispersion of suspended particulates.”