PremiumDelhi registered an AQI of 268 on Sunday morning by the virtue of lesser cases of stubble burning and higher wind speed
With wind speed picking up, the air quality in the National Capital Region is witnessing improvement. IQAir recorded Delhi's morning air quality index (AQI) at 7:00 am on Sunday to be 268. Although AQI between 201-300 falls in ‘poor’ category but this figure shows a relative improvement in situation for the capital.
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 303 on Saturday, improving from 346 on Friday. It was 295 on Thursday.
According to IQAir, Sunday morning 7:00 am AQI in Gurugram was 180 and for Noida it stood at 298.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".
According to representatives of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), winds gusting as high as 18 to 20 kmph blasted through the city during the day, improving visibility and air quality.
The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) stage 3 (severe) curbs, according to the Centre's air quality panel, will remain in place in Delhi-NCR.
The third stage of the GRAP prohibits all construction and demolition work in Delhi-NCR, with the exception of necessary projects. Additionally prohibited from operation are brick kilns, hot mix plants, and stone crushers.
The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reports that the number of farm fires in Punjab decreased from 3,916 on Friday—the highest day of the season so far—to 2,467 on Saturday. According to SAFAR, a forecasting organisation under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, their contribution to the PM2.5 pollution in Delhi also decreased from 19% on Friday to 17% on Saturday.
However, data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's Decision Support System revealed that "biomass burning" was the major cause of Saturday's air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
(With inputs from PTI)