NEW DELHI: A day before Diwali, air pollution levels in Delhi spiked, with eight monitoring stations reporting ‘very poor’ air quality. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) rose to 278 at 9 am,
up from 268 the day before. Despite a slight improvement from Tuesday, when the AQI was 304, the city remained in the ‘poor’ category.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board showed that out of 36 monitoring stations, eight—Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Aya Nagar, Bawana, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Vivek Vihar, and Wazirpur—recorded ‘very poor’ AQI levels in the morning.
The most polluted place was reportedly Mundka with 383 AQI followed by Anand Vihar with 379 AQI, both in the ‘very poor’ categories going by the figures.
The minimum temperature in Delhi was 21 degrees Celsius, which is 4.9 degrees above normal for this time of year, with humidity at 83%. The day witnessed clear skies and a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius.
While Gurgaon may witness better air quality with an AQI forecast of 77.51 (satisfactory) for Diwali, Noida will not experience the same relief, with a projected AQI of 208.92 (poor).
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee had already warned that the AQI is expected to hover in the ‘very poor’ category till Wednesday, while on Thursday, it could reach the ‘severe’ category if additional emissions from firecrackers and stubble fires occur.
Stubble burning down due to incentives: Haryana to SC
As Delhi’s AQI could plummet to ‘severe’ category in the coming days, Haryana government recently filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court and said that giving incentives to farmers for crop diversification and use of machinery has worked as instances of stubble-burning has considerably reduced in the last three years.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Haryana Chief Secretary, TVSN Prasad, said that many incentives are being given to farmers to persuade them not to engage in farm fires. “We (Haryana govt) are offering a number of incentives to motivate them not to engage in farm fires that cause air pollution in Delhi-NCR,” Haryana government said in the affidavit.