NEW DELHI: Air quality in the national capital slipped to the higher end of the ‘poor’ zone, nose-diving close to the ‘very poor’ mark on Friday. Government officials warned of “further” and “fast” deterioration in the air quality over the coming days.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s overall air quality index (AQI) on Thursday was 283, in the higher end of the ‘poor’ category. The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) early warning system forecasted that air quality is likely to slip further to ‘very poor’ zone by Saturday morning.
“The transport level winds and speed is highly favourable (north-westerly) for downward transport to the city and the percentage share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 has increased to 20 per cent today,” it said. The bulletin also said that the total number of fire counts in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana on Friday was 1,112.
CPCB officials said that a dip in the mercury and rising number of farm fires have pushed up pollution levels. “The first week of November may have Diwali coinciding with spike in farm fires and a further drop in temperature, a situation that doesn’t allow dispersion of pollutants concentrating in the atmosphere, thus resulting in a spike in pollution levels,” said a senior official.
Measures such as ban on diesel generator sets, mechanical sweeping of roads and sprinkling of water on key stretches listed under the ‘very poor’ zone of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), came into effect in Delhi-NCR on Thursday. The decision came after the Commission for Air Quality Management’s (CAQM) sub-committee held a meeting on Thursday to review the air quality status as well as meteorological and air pollution forecast made available by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).