Delhi’s air quality drops to ‘poor’ again

New Delhi, October 20 

The Capital’s air quality turned “poor” on Sunday as wind direction changed to northwesterly, increasing the contribution of smoke from stubble-burning in neighbouring states to the pollution in the city. 

Westerly and northwesterly winds bring dust from western regions and smoke caused by burning of crop residue in the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana to Delhi-NCR. After fluctuating between “poor” and “very poor” for over a week, the city’s air quality had improved to “moderate” category on Saturday, mainly due to a squall in Delhi that dispersed pollutants and rainfall in neighbouring areas that subdued the effect of stubble-burning. 

However on Sunday, pollution levels in Delhi shot up by around 100 points at air quality index (AQI), the Central Pollution Control Board data showed. 

The AQI, which was 161 on Saturday, rose to 258 by Sunday afternoon. Higher the AQI of an area, the higher the pollution level. 

Despite a ban on stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana, farmers continue to defy it amid lack of financial incentives. State governments are providing 50 to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw and running a massive awareness campaign against stubble burning. 

The Delhi Government has on several occasions attributed the dip in the air quality to rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states. “Air quality in Delhi has been good or moderate for the last 7-8 months, but they (pollution levels) have starkly gone up now... Clearly, the sudden spike in pollution is a result of smoke coming from outside,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said earlier. 

The Delhi Government has also tied up with Washington University and set up a centre near India Gate to collect data, with the help of which it will be able to tell the degree of air pollution due to specific sources from April next year. — PTI

Stubble-burning picks up in neighbouring states

• Despite a ban on stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana, farmers continue to defy it amid lack of financial incentives
• State governments are providing 50 to 80 per cent subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw