Delhi air quality to take a steep dive to ‘very poor’ this week, says Ministry

Pollution levels in Delhi dipped slightly on Monday but the air quality stayed in the ‘poor’ category, with government agencies saying the average air quality index (AQI) was likely to slip to ‘very poor’ in the next few days due to a change in wind direction and a reduction in speed.

The city recorded a 24-hour AQI of 244. It was 254 on Sunday, 287 on Saturday, 239 on Friday and 315 on Thursday, the worst since February 12 (AQI 320).

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’,201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the AQI was likely to slip to ‘very poor’ category by Wednesday due to a change in wind direction and a reduction in the wind speed.

Expecting further deterioration in air quality in the coming days, the Supreme Court-mandated Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) on Monday asked the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to be ready to close thermal power plants that do not meet the standards laid down in 2015.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to hold monthly meetings with the the CM’s of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to curb air pollution, saying there is a lack of political will at the level of the states to address the problem of stubble burning.

In a virtual press briefing, he said the affected states have been unable to find a solution to stop stubble burning and prevent air pollution.

“I believe pollution due to stubble burning can be controlled in a short span of time. But a lack of political will is visible in doing that.”

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the city government will deploy 2,500 environment marshals across the national capital to generate awareness about its recently launched anti-pollution campaign, ‘Red Light On, Gaadi Off’, to curb vehicular pollution.

According to SAFAR, a change in surface wind direction is expected by early Wednesday which is “likely to bring calm surface wind conditions, leading to low ventilation and deterioration of AQI”.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was 17 per cent on Sunday, 19 per cent on Saturday, 18 per cent on Friday, around one per cent on Wednesday and around 3 per cent on Tuesday, Monday and Sunday.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the ventilation index was 10,000 meter square per second on Monday, favourable for dispersion of pollutants.

[Sourced from Agencies]