Delhi pollution is expected to remain in ‘poor’ category for the fourth straight day today. A few regions in Delhi such as Anand Vihar and Wazirpur, have already recorded AQIs of more 300, this October, placing them in the "very poor" category. The pollution levels have spiked in the city currently with air quality degrading by the day.
Looking at the PM 2.5 levels for today morning, Chandni Chowk recorded 229 PM 2.5 (poor), Noida 320 (very poor), Lodhi Road 271 and Pusa 224.
This alarming air quality can be linked to stubble burning in neighboring Punjab and Haryana. As a matter of fact, the fire counts in Punjab and Haryana have increased significantly over the last two days.
According to meteorologists, Delhi will probably keep encountering poor air quality in the coming days due to the prevailing wind direction and the stubble burning.
Looking back at the history, the NGT or National Green Tribunal had banned crop residue burning in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab. However, recently the government relaxed the ban and this has led to more and more cases of stubble burning this year.
The wind direction in Delhi is westerly which is unfavorable thereby carrying the smoke from the stubble burning towards Delhi.
Just a day before yesterday, Delhi recorded air in ‘poor’ quality for the first time in the season.
Since Southwest Monsoon has withdrawn from Delhi and NCR region hence, dry weather conditions are continuing over Delhi and NCR. The sky conditions are mainly clear with bright sunshine during the day.
Due to the presence of a Cyclonic Circulation over Central parts of Pakistan and adjoining parts of West Rajasthan, the normal pattern of surface winds is likely to change. The surface wind speed will be mainly light. During morning and evening hours, winds will be calm and variable. However, during the day, the wind flow is expected from South and Southeast which again will be light in speed.
Due to the prevalence of light winds, the pollutants from smoke and emissions from motor vehicles will remain trapped near the surface. Due to the accumulation of this smoke, the pollution level is likely to increase gradually during the week.
The day temperatures are expected to remain between 33 to 34 degree Celsius while night temperatures will be pleasant in the range of about 20 to 22 degrees Celsius.
Image Credits – Dainik Bhaskar
Any information taken from here should be credited to Skymet Weather
