Delhi's air quality set to plunge sharply in November
Premium- A senior scientist at IMD on Monday said Delhi's air quality is expected to be in 'poor' category till 4th November but it is expected to plunge to very poor category after Diwali
Premium| Listen to this article |
After clean spell for months, Delhi's air quality is set to drop sharply in November. People in the national capital breathed the cleanest air in at least four years as favourable weather conditions led to a rare drop in pollution in Delhi, according to a report in Bloomberg. However, the authorities are now predicting drop in Delhi's air quality.
The report said that a delayed end to the monsoon, intermittent rains and a sharp pick-up in wind speeds ensured that the concentration of hazardous, small airborne particles known as PM2.5 in a cubic metre of air averaged 72 in October. That was sharply down from an average concentration of 126 recorded in October 2020 - 25 times over the World Health Organization's safe limit.
But now a numbers of factors like falling temperatures, stubble burning by farmers is likely to turn the air hazardous. "Because of frequent rains, most farmers didn't get to burn crop stubble, and now they have an even shorter window to dispose of crop waste," Anumita Roychowdhury, an executive director at the Centre for Science, told Bloomberg .
As rains ebb, she further said, more and more farmers will rush to burn rice stubble, and that will happen when broader weather patterns will allow pollutants to hang in the air, resulting in a thick smog.
A senior scientist at IMD on Monday said Delhi's air quality is expected to be in 'poor' category till 4th November but it is expected to plunge to very poor category after Diwali.
“Till 4th November, air quality is expected to be in 'poor' category. It could dip to 'very poor' category on 5-6 November due to northwesterly winds and bursting of crackers," said VK Soni, scientist at IMD.
The air quality in city remained poor for the sixth consecutive day on Monday with stubble burning accounting for 7% of the capital's PM2.5 pollution.
Air quality forecast agency SAFAR said the air quality is likely to improve marginally over the next two days due to winds coming from west and south-west direction.
It predicted predicted that PM2.5 and PM10 levels in the capital may get pushed to 250 micrograms per cubic meter and 398 micrograms per cubic meter, respectively, on Diwali night.
The acceptable limits for PM2.5 and PM10 concentration is 60 micrograms per cubic meter and 100 micrograms per cubic meter. "The air quality is likely to deteriorate on November 5 and 6 significantly and may reach the upper end of the very poor category. PM2.5 to be the predominant pollutant," it said.
With agency inputs
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!
×![]()