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Following Diwali festival, the air quality in Delhi's Janpath slipped to 'hazardous' category on Friday morning. The concentrations of Pollution Meter (PM) 2.5 stood at 655.07 in the region.
The air quality would not improve until Sunday evening (November 7). The improvement would, however, just fluctuate in the 'Very Poor' category, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.
"The overall air quality of Delhi is plunged into the upper end of very poor category...It will continue to fall now and may enter at the edge of the "very poor" to "severe" category by tonight...," SAFAR informed.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi (overall) is presently at 386 and is continuing to slip further, SAFAR said.
The AQI near IIT Delhi was recorded to be 395, while in the NCR region of Gurugram and Noida, the air quality was recorded at 389 and 448 respectively.
Despite the ban on firecrackers, several people in the national capital were seen bursting crackers on street contributing to the degradation of the air quality. As a thick blanket of smog shrouds the skies of Delhi, people here complained of itchy throat and watery eyes.
SAFAR added, “If firecrackers are burned even 50 per cent of last year then PM2.5 will enter 'severe' category by midnight and shoot up rapidly by today early morning with AQI even crossing 500 ."
As per the SAFAR model forecast, the stubble share will touch ~35 per cent today (November 5) and ~40 per cent on November 6 and November 7.
"Relief is expected only from the evening of November 7 but AQI will fluctuate within the Very Poor range," it said.
The extremely calm wind conditions in Delhi combined with a 25 per cent stubble share (fire count 2293) are two major factors of pollution today.
(With inputs from agencies)
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