NEW DELHI: The national capital is set to witness a sharp decline in pollution levels over the weekend.
On Thursday evening, the CPCB showed an overall Air Quality index (AQI) of 284 for Delhi based on 35 stations across the city monitoring the air quality. It underlined PM 2.5, one of the major toxic agent in air as the prominent pollutant.
In five areas, the AQI was under the “very poor” category with over 300 mark at 8 PM on Wednesday.
“We are expecting rainfall across the Himalayan belt including Punjab, Haryana and light rain in some places here,” an official from the Indian Meteorological Centre (IMD) said.
The Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said stubble burning incidents in Haryana, Punjab, and nearby border regions have shown an “increasing trend” over the last three days. It said the share of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration was eight per cent on Thursday. It is predicted to increase to 10 per cent on Friday and to 18 per cent on Saturday.