As Capital braves chill, air quality worsens

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat/Samad Hoque

Faridabad/New Delhi, Dec 16

As the winter begins to engulf the region, Delhi recorded this season’s lowest temperature at 4.9°C yesterday. The minimum temperature rose to 5.5°C on Saturday.

While the minimum temperature was three degrees below the normal, maximum temperature was two degrees above the normal at 24.2°C.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the minimum temperature will be around 5°C to 7°C and the maximum temperature will be around 23°C to 25°C. The city will witness shallow fog in the morning on Sunday and mist in the morning from Monday.

The wind was blowing from the Northwest direction at a speed of around 8 kmph in the morning while it was calmer in the night. The Early Warning System has forecasted that the wind speed will increase to 15-16 kmph from December 18.

Meanwhile, the daily average air quality index (AQI) in Delhi saw a slight increase from 323 yesterday to 354 today, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

Some local areas in Delhi, witnessed the AQI breaching the 400-mark – Jahangirpuri (419), Shadipur (415) and Wazirpur (421). Besides, areas like Anand Vihar, Bawana, Mundka Nehru Nagar and Rohini saw the AQI reach 398, 390, 388, 398 and 394, respectively.

With the levels of AQI recorded at 371, Ballabhgarh recorded the poorest air quality in the NCR on Saturday, according to the data of the CPCB.

Faridabad recorded an average AQI of 319 this morning. The AQI in the city has been hanging between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories in the past two weeks, after registering AQI in the ‘severe’ category last month.

The air quality has also deteriorated in Greater Noida and Noida. The AQI reading in Greater Noida went from 294 on Friday to 350 on Saturday. The AQI level in Noida went from 299 to 330 in the same period. The air quality in Ghaziabad also entered the ‘poor’ category’ clocking an AQI of 316.

With an AQI of 288, air quality in Gurugram was in the ‘poor’ category. The AQI in the Bahadurgarh and Manesar crossed the 300-mark, with an AQI of 319 and 304, respectively, this evening.

While the PM 2.5 level in Ballabhgarh was 368 in the morning, it dipped to 371 by 5 pm on Saturday. This is the second consecutive day when the AQI of the subdivisional town crossed the 300-mark.

The average AQI in the area had been around 290 in the past one week, which is close to the ‘very poor’ category. Three of the four AQI meters installed in various parts of Faridabad also recorded a level between 342 and 393, at 9 am, according to Sameer, the official app of the CPCB.

The poor air quality in the region has been attributed to civil construction work, metal extraction and the burning of industrial and chemical waste by units located in the civic limits of the NIT zone of the city. It is alleged that furnaces used in the process results in acute pollution in the region.

“Burning of industrial and chemical waste has been a prominent factor behind air pollution in the area,” says Varun Sheokand, a local resident. He claimed that complaints lodged with the authorities had failed to produce the anticipated impact so far.

Akanksha Tanwar, Regional Officer, State Pollution Control Board, Ballabhgarh, said ongoing civil construction work at some of the spots and dust generated due to traffic movement may have led to the poor AQI readings.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

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