NEW DELHI: The city’s air quality improved significantly on Monday with the air quality index (AQI)
settling in the lower end of the ‘very poor’ zone. The improvement can be attributed to gusty winds throughout the day and bright sun, said weather officials.
Air quality is likely to improve further to ‘poor’ over the next two days, according to the officials. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the city’s overall AQI reading on Monday was 311, as against 349 the previous day.
According to IMD officials, wind speed picked up pace up to 15-25kmph during the day while visibility also improved to 3,200 metres. However, winds are likely to weaken from November 24 onwards. “The wind speed went up to 25 kmph during the day, a major factor behind the dispersion of pollutants. Over the last 22 days, it was only on Monday that visibility was recorded more than 3000 metres,” said senior IMD scientist RK Jenamani.
He added that so far, no western disturbance that could have resulted in strong winds, which is why dispersion was slow. “The winds are likely to weaken from November 24 onwards, as minimum temperature are likely to fall further, which will make the winds heavier and slower, a pattern not favourable for dispersion of pollutants,” a senior IMD official said.
The union government’s System for Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) also said that winds help to improve air quality significantly. “Strong winds helped dispersion of pollutants accumulated in the atmosphere over a long time. Also, since farm fire counts are low with a contribution of 6 per cent, there was no influx of external emissions. Air quality may further improve to reach ‘poor’ zone over the next two days,” it said.
