Last year, air quality was better in summer: Report

Tribune News Service

New Delhi January 4

The air in Delhi-NCR was more polluted during the winter season in 2023 as compared to the summer months of the year. This was stated in an analysis report that was released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Thursday.

The report mentioned that the region witnessed cleaner summer and monsoon seasons and the ingress of smoke from stubble fires in the northern states was much lower in the warmer months. However, pollutants remained trapped in the atmosphere during the winter, leading to a spike in pollution levels.

“The summer months of March, April, May and June, 2023, were significantly less polluted as compared to the corresponding period in 2022. However, winter months of January, November and December, 2023, witnessed higher polluted levels than those of 2022,” stated the CSE.

It said the region slipped back into the abyss of high pollution levels in the winter of 2023, despite recording a gradual but long-term improvement in the annual PM2.5 concentrations since 2015-17. It added that the forward march towards cleaner air and clearer skies came to a grinding halt in 2023.

Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, CSE, said, “With a decrease in the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution and rise in rainfall in November and less severe cold winter conditions, the annual levels of pollution should have improved further.”

However, worsening meteorological conditions, including the lowering of wind speed, tilted the scale adversely and contributed towards higher local pollution. Delhi needs stricter measures to reduce emissions in order to meet the national ambient air quality standard.

Avikal Somvanshi, Senior Programme Manager, Urban Lab, CSE, pointed out that the summer and monsoon months in 2023 were unusually cleaner as compared to the corresponding months in the previous years.

“However, the winter of 2023 recorded one of the worst pollution levels in the city due to very slow surface wind speed. This impeded the dispersal of pollutants and led to rise in the overall pollution levels. This trapping of local pollution from all sides made this winter exceptionally bad despite lesser smoke from farm fires,” added Somvanshi.

There were zero days of good air quality between October 1 and December 29, 2023. Although Delhi usually experiences two smog episodes in the month of November and December, the national capital experienced four such episodes in the two months last year.

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