Delhi’s air quality improves, drops to ‘moderate’ category with AQI at 190
In a relief for Delhiites, the air quality in the national capital saw a significant improvement on Wednesday with the air quality index falling in the ‘moderate category.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality index (AQI) on Wednesday morning stood at 190.
The air quality in the Delhi University area was at 273, Pusa at 128, IIT Delhi (173), Airport area (211), Mathura Road (152), and Lodhi Road (149). Meanwhile, Noida recorded an AQI of 218, while Gurugram was at 169.
This comes three days after ‘very poor’ air quality in the Delhi-NCR region due to a combination of low temperatures, calm winds, and farm fires in neighbouring states.
However, the Decision Support System (DSS) – which estimates the source of each contribution to Delhi’s PM2.5 – predicted that the Delhi AQI will likely oscillate between “poor” and “very poor” till the end of the month as meteorological conditions continue to play a key role.
Meanwhile, the national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature in the region is likely to settle at 31 degrees Celsius during the day.
On Sunday, Delhi saw the lowest temperature of the season at 15.6 degrees Celsius.
Delhi environment minister on the pollution
As the second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) came into force in the national capital due to poor air quality, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on Monday said that the next two weeks are crucial for Delhi due to the combination of Dussehra, Diwali, and farm fires. “The weather is not in our control but the sources (causing pollution) can be controlled to ensure the impact on people’s health is minimised,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government has identified eight new pollution hotspots in the city – Shadipur, ITO, Mandir Marg, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, and Moti Bagh – for which action plans will be formulated and special teams will be deployed to monitor the sources of pollution. Currently, there are a total of 21 pollution hotspots in the national capital.