After less than a week's respite, pollution levels in the city are on the rise again. With temperature in Delhi and NCR slipping to nearly 10 degrees Celsius, air quality levels have also begun to plunge.
The notorious black spot of Anand Vihar showed a continuous Particulate Matter 10 (PM 10) reading of 1.90 K (1,900 ug/m3) from 6 pm on Saturday to 7:30 am on Sunday. This was as per the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) website, and more than 19 times the permissible limit of 100 ug/m3. PM 10 is fine dust which breaches the upper lung system and causes asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory ailments. PM 2.5, on the other hand, is even tinier and gets into the lower lung chamber, making its way into the heart and blood stream. It is believed to cause heart attacks and cancer in the long term. It was a cold morning in the national Capital on Sunday with the mercury dipping to 10.5 degrees Celsius. Ads by ZINC
NO RESPITE
Shallow fog was witnessed during the early morning hours, though the city received some sunshine post noon. On Saturday, it was even lower with the maximum temperature recorded at 28 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 10.1 degrees Celsius. Delhi suffered high levels of air pollution around Diwali-from October 27 to November 12. This was mainly due to burning firecrackers and paddy stubble in Punjab and Haryana, coupled with low wind speed. This improved slightly from November 15 as northwesterly winds began to blow, thereby helping in dispersion of pollutants. However, on Sunday, Delhi once again fell into the 'very poor' category of air quality as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Its National Air Quality Index read '380', behind only Faridabad (414), Patna (404) and Lucknow (456). NAQI monitors 27 Indian cities. Weather forecaster Skymetweather.com said on Saturday, "Chances of rise in pollution levels in the national Capital along with adjoining areas is possible. As a result, the smoke haze layer is also likely to increase over the northwest plains including Delhi after 48 hours for consecutive 3-4 days. Scattered fogs or mists can also be foreseen in the mornings."
AREAS HIT WORST
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) researcher Usman City air quality dips once again Nasim said, "Areas like Anand Vihar will be worst hit. The reason being that as winters approach, lower economic localities like these will see waste-burning for warmth. The NGT's ban on this has not been implemented well. Secondly, it is a hub of inter-state vehicles and small factories. The ban on construction has also been lifted since November 16." Anand Vihar recorded the highest PM 2.5 at 598 ug/m3 from 2-3 am on Saturday, which is 10 times the permissible limit of 60 ug/m3. Similarly, Punjabi Bagh in west Delhi recorded a PM 2.5 of 347 ug/m3 from 11-11:30 pm. RK Puram in south Delhi registered the highest PM 2.5 of 387 ug/m3 from 8-8:30 pm on Saturday before it decreased slowly on Sunday.
