Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 20: Only three days after the city saw its first day of acceptable air quality this year, Delhi’s air quality slipped into the poor category on Monday. At 4 pm on Monday, the city’s 24-hour average air quality index was 182, according to data. On Sunday, it was 119, on Saturday, 70, and on Friday, 47. Anand Vihar was the most polluted area in the capital with an AQI of 405 (severe).
According to Mahesh Palawat, vice president (climate change and meteorology), a meeting of easterly and westerly winds prevented the dispersion of local pollutants. Pollutants accumulated in the morning due to calm winds.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi-NCR operated by the Ministry of Earth Sciences predicts that the air quality will likely stay “moderate to poor” on Tuesday and “poor” on Wednesday.
The likelihood of calm winds during the night and early morning hours makes it difficult for pollutants to be effectively dispersed.
The transportation industry was responsible for between 14 and 22% of the PM 2.5 pollution in Delhi on Monday, according to the Decision Support System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. By Wednesday, it is probably going to reach 33 percent.
Notably, an AQI of 0 to 50 is regarded as ‘excellent,’ 51 to 100 as ‘acceptable,’ 101 to 200 as ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 as ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 as ‘extremely poor,’ and 401 to 500 as ‘severe.’
The first ‘excellent’ air quality day of the year occurred on Friday thanks to a prolonged period of light rain in the city.
