The month of November commenced with pollution levels soaring into 'severe' category across Delhi-NCR, This has become a very usual affair since the last many years. This year, the combined mass activity of stubble burning over the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana and cracker burning on the festivities of Dussehra, followed with that of Deepavali lead to a rise in pollutant levels over Delhi-NCR.
Moreover during this time of the year, the winds were almost stagnant and humidity levels were too high for the pollutants to make a move away from the city. In fact, November 7 onward Delhi is seeing a continuous pollution surge.
Just recently, the city had seen an occasional relief - all thanks to isolated rain activities and strong winds. Presently, a fresh Western Disturbance has approached the region of Western Himalayas. Cold and dry winds from Northwest will be replaced by relatively warm and humid winds from southeast. The speed of winds is also going to decrease, therefore the pollution which was in ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ category for last few days will now become ‘severe’ to ‘very severe’ over most places.
We do not expect any significant relief until January 6 as the winds will continue to change direction. Any moderate to strong wind would remain absent from the area.
The only ray of hope is the slight possibility of scattered rains over Delhi-NCR around January 6 which may wash away the pollutants. However, it is too early for that and we have wait and watch as predicting the intensity of these rains at this time will not be wise.
There is a slight expectation that this will bring some relief from the ongoing pollution. Till then citizens are advised not to engage in much outdoor activities so as to escape any direct pollutant inhalation.
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