Air quality ‘very poor’ in Delhi

New Delhi, November 1

The layer of smog lingering over Delhi thickened on Tuesday, lowering visibility while air quality turned for the worst amid calmer winds and raging farm fires in Punjab.

The overall air quality index today indicated “upper end of very poor” air quality, according to SAFAR.

Capital choked

Air quality is likely to remain within ‘very poor’ or ‘lower end of severe’ for next three days due to combined effect of stubble burning as well as local emissions and weather conditions. SAFAR WEATHER APP

Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI was in the ‘severe’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data this morning

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research said air quality is likely to remain within “very poor” or “lower end of severe” for the next three days due to the combined effect of transport of stubble burning-related pollutants as well as local emissions and weather conditions.

Local surface winds 8 to 12 kmph, maximum temperature between 31-32°C and minimum 15-16°C for the next three days may just cause “moderate dispersion of pollutants”, it said.

Peak ‘mixing layer height’ during daytime (Rs 1.0 km) results in moderate vertical mixing and moderate dispersion of pollutants, it added.

NASA’s satellite images showed a dense cluster of red dots denoting farm fires in Punjab and parts of Haryana and a layer of smoke blanketing huge swathes of the Indo-Gangetic plains from East Pakistan to east Uttar Pradesh.

According to the CPCB, the concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM 2.5 was above 450 micrograms per cubic metre, around eight times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, in many areas.

An AQI above 400 is considered “severe” and can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with illnesses

PM 2.5 level from 61 to 120 is considered “moderate to poor”, 121 to 250 is “very poor”, 251 to 350 “severe” and more than 350 “severe plus”.

Children, elderly more vulnerable

• The ‘severe’ category of air quality calls for health warnings of emergency conditions and even serious risk of respiratory complications in the public
• There is a rise in carbon monoxide levels in some areas across the city, posing a threat to children and senior citizens