NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, here on Tuesday, said the air quality of the national capital could deteriorate due to approaching dust storms from the western India.“Long-range dust transport from the dry arid western region is expected by April 15 to further deteriorate AQI (air quality index) towards the lower-end poor category,” the Ministry said.
This has come a day after the city saw ‘moderate’ AQI at 126, the highest so far during the lockdown.
The air quality was largely in the ‘satisfactory’ range throughout this period.The national capital saw its hottest day so far this year with mercury touching 39.7 degrees Celsius on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department has predicted that in the coming days mercury will soar further.
“For the next three to four days the temperature is going to swing between 38 to 40 degrees Celsius,” senior scientists of IMD, Kuldeep Srivastava told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Earth Science’s SAFAR model suggests AQI likely to deteriorate at the high end of moderate category today with PM10 as lead pollutant.“This impact is purely attributed to external natural dust and nothing to do with local emissions. ,” SAFAR added.
According to the regional meteorological centre of the IMD, the sky was partly cloudy and thundery development are expected.Partly cloudy skies with possibility of light rain and gusty winds are forecasted on April 19, according to IMD.