New Delhi: The national capital’s air quality on Thursday was in “very poor” category with experts and government agencies saying it may enter the “severe” category on Diwali night.
A change in the wind direction from north westerly to north-north easterly was the reason behind the dip in pollution levels as it reduced the contribution of stubble burning significantly, they said.
As per updates, the national capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 314. It was 344 on Wednesday and 476 on Tuesday.
Delhi witnessed six “severe” air days on the trot from November 4 to November 9, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.
However, the neighbouring cities of Faridabad (304), Ghaziabad (328), Noida (305), Greater Noida (327), and Gurgaon (293), which fall in the National Capital Region (NCR), also recorded their AQI in the “poor” and “very poor” categories.
Air quality to improve post Diwali
Anyway, Delhi-NCR’s air quality is likely to improve post Diwali due to an increase in the wind speed. On Sunday, the maximum wind speed is expected to be around 12 to 15 kilometres per hour. The IMD said that there will be a significant improvement in air quality by November 16.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the PM2.5 concentration in Delhi on Diwali is likely to be the “lowest” in the last four years if no firecrackers are burnt.
Ban on firecrackers
On November 5, the Delhi government banned the sale and use of all types of firecrackers in the city from November 7 to November 30.
On Monday, the National Green Tribunal also imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the NCR from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight, saying “celebration by crackers is for happiness and not to celebrate deaths and diseases”.
To keep the pollution under control, the Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had on Wednesday ordered closure of hot mix plants and stone crushers in Delhi-NCR till November 17.
Giant air purifier in East Delhi
Keeping the present situation in mind, a giant air purifier has been installed in East Delhi and two more will be installed soon, BJP lawmaker Gautam Gambhir said on Thursday.
One of the air purifiers will be installed next week and the other in the week after that. These giant air purifiers are approximately 12 feet in size and cover an area of 1,000 sq mt. The fully automatic machines will deliver 2 lakh cubic metre of clean air every day.
In January this year, Gambhir had also inaugurated a first-of-its-kind giant air purifier in the heart of Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market which was seen as the pilot project.
(With inputs from PTI, IANS)