Capital reels under ‘severe’ air quality for sixth day on the trot

NEW DELHI:  There seems to be no respite from the toxic air in the national capital as the residents of Delhi once again woke up to a grey and hazy sky with air quality inching closer to “emergency” levels on Tuesday. Air quality monitoring stations at Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Pusa, Rohini, Patparganj, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Najafgarh, Sri Aurobindo Marg and Okhla Phase 2 maxed out - as air quality indexes hit the 500-mark, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

The smog reduced the visibility to merely 300 meters in the morning affecting traffic, an official of the India Meteorological Department said. Delhi recorded an AQI of 487 at 9 am, which falls in the “severe” category. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (474), Ghaziabad (476), Noida (490), Greater Noida (467), and Gurugram (469) also recorded “severe” air quality. This is the sixth “severe” air day on the trot in Delhi.

The levels of PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR were 605 µg/m3 at 8 am - around ten times the safe limit of 60 µg/m3. PM10 levels on the other hand stood at 777 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) at 8 am, the highest since November June 14, 2018, when it surged to 847 µg/m3, according to CPCB. PM10 levels below 100 µg/m3 are considered safe.

Government agencies and experts said calm wind speeds were exacerbating the effect of stubble burning and a “quick recovery” is not possible unless the number of farm fires reduces drastically. V K Soni, the head of the IMD’s environmental research centre, said a major improvement in Delhi-NCR’s air quality was highly unlikely in the coming days.

“The air quality is likely to be recorded in the upper end of the ‘very poor’ category on Diwali if we discount firecrackers emissions. If people burst crackers, pollution levels can increase to ‘severe’ or ‘severe-plus’ category,” he said.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said, “Low dispersion condition continues in Delhi along with high fire-related intrusion. This has led to the accumulation of pollutants near the surface. No quick recovery is expected unless a drastic reduction in fire counts takes place,” it said.

NCR enveloped by layers of smog
Delhi recorded an AQI of 487 at 9 am, which falls in the ‘severe’ category. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (474), Ghaziabad (476), Noida (490), Greater Noida (467), and Gurugram (469) also recorded ‘severe’ air quality