Central government’s air monitoring agency SAFAR has stated that the air quality of the national capital has turned “poor” and the situation is likely to worsen in the next few days owing to the upcoming festival of Diwali.
While the quality index or AQI of the Central Pollution Control Board was poor, the day-long average of particulate matter PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 178 and 94 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.
(The AQI is a yardstick to measure how clean the air is at a specific location, while PM 2.5 is an air pollutant made up of a complex mixture of dust, soot and smoke, and can cause health issues.)
In the case of further deterioration in air quality, the AQI will turn “very poor” and “severe”.
It can also be ascertained that the dipping level of AQI will lead to breathing discomfort for the residents of Delhi.
Ground-level activities such as burning of paddy stubble in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana and meteorological conditions including a cyclonic circulation and a fall in wind speed that traps pollutants can be held responsible for Delhi’s poor air quality.
As reported by Indiatimes, nine out of 17 monitoring stations of CPCB in New Delhi recorded "poor air quality", while two recorded "very poor air quality". Four stations of SAFAR had air quality in the "poor" category.
The air quality of Delhi in 2016 had plummeted and a dense blanket of smog had kept the city shrouded for over a week in November. The situation had led to authorities announcing the closure of schools among other emergency measures.
