Delhi’s air quality deteriorated back to the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday, as the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) settled at 313, merely a day after increased wind speed provided a slight improvement, lowering the pollution levels to the ‘poor’ category.
The transport sector is expected to be the largest contributor to pollution on Wednesday, while the impact of stubble burning is anticipated to increase on Thursday, potentially worsening air quality further over the next few days, according to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology models.
The transport sector is expected to be the largest contributor to pollution on Wednesday, while the impact of stubble burning is anticipated to increase on Thursday, potentially worsening air quality further over the next few days, according to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) models. The data was provided by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in its bulletin. Of the 58 monitoring stations that recorded data on Wednesday, only one station was in the ‘severe’ category, 34 were in the ‘very poor’ category, 22 in the ‘poor’ category and only one in the ‘moderate’ category. An AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51 and 100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 as ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 as ‘poor’, 301 and 400 as ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 as ‘severe’, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The transport sector is set to be the largest contributor to the city’s pollution on Tuesday, accounting for 17 per cent, according to the Decision Support System (DSS) for Delhi. Satellite data on stubble burning revealed that 927 incidents of residue burning were detected across six states on Tuesday.
