After just two days, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) fell back into the “very poor” range due to calm local winds trapping pollutants near the surface. Forecasters warn that the capital make experience its first tryst with “severe” air this season on October 30, the day before Diwali.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the city’s 24-hour average AQI was 356 at 4 p.m. on Sunday, which was much worse than the reading of 255 (designated as “poor”), recorded the day before.
On Saturday, long-range transport winds- which normally blow 5-10 feet above the surface- shifted their direction and blew from the east-southeast (from Uttar Pradesh and Southern Haryana) rather than the northwest (from Punjab and Northern Haryana), which made the air mode bad. So, even without the smoke from stubble fires in the rice fields of north India, Delhi’s AQI plummeted.
The national government’s Decision Support System (DSS), which identifies pollution sources, said stubble burning contributes 5.5% of Delhi’s PM2.5 levels on Saturday, compared to 14.6% on Friday.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), “Pollution spike was largely due to local pollutants. There has been a change in wind direction from northwesterly to southeasterly, but winds in Delhi were calm throughout Saturday evening and the early hours of Sunday”.
The CPCB places an AQI in the following ranges: 0-50 for “good”, 51-100 for “satisfactory”, 101-200 for “moderate”, 201-300 for “poor”, 301-400 for “very poor”, and 400-and higher for “severe”.
Delhi’s AQI slipped into “very poor” on October 21. The Capital’s pollution season, which lasts from mid-October to December, is characterized by a dense dome of smog that is fueled by a deadly combination of falling temperature and smoke from farm fires. Delhi has one of the worst AQIs in the world during this time, frequently soaring above 450. Delhi’s AQI reached a high of 468 last year and 450 in 2022.
On Sunday, readings from three of Delhi’s 37 pollution monitoring stations- Bawana (411), Burari (405) and Jhangirpuri (404) – were in the “deep red”. According to the Center’s Early Warning System (EWS) forecasts, “Delhi’s air quality is not expected to improve anytime soon. From October 28 to October 30, Delhi’s air quality is probably going to be in the very poor category. If there are further emissions from stubble fire and firecrackers on October 30, the air quality could drop to the “severe” level. After Diwali, when polluting firecrackers blaze around the city for hours, Delhi’s AQI frequently reaches “severe,” causing an air emergency that endangers even healthy people with severe respiratory and cardiac ailments.
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