New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) Delhi recorded ‘poor’ air quality on Friday, with no improvement expected over the next nine days, according to official data.
The capital’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 230, the data showed.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’
According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app, three of the 56 monitoring stations in the city recorded air quality in the ‘very poor’ category, with Pusa recording the highest AQI at 324.
While 36 stations recorded ‘poor’ air quality, the AQI readings from the remaining 17 stations were in the ‘moderate’ category.
Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain
in the ‘poor’ category from October 23 to October 26. It is likely to remain unchanged over the subsequent six days, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System.
A ventilation index below 6,000 square metres per second, coupled with an average wind speed of less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants, the forecast said.
According to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi by IITM Pune, the transport sector contributed 20.3 per cent to the city’s air pollution, followed by residential sources at 5.2 per cent, industries at 4.2 per cent, construction at 2.6 per cent, energy at 2 per cent, waste burning at 1.8 per cent, road dust at 1.4 per cent and other sectors at 1.3 per cent.
Among the NCR districts, Gurugram’s contribution to Delhi’s pollution was the highest at 8.8 per cent, followed by Jhajjar at 6.1 per cent and Gautam Buddha Nagar at 4.7 per cent.
Ghaziabad contributed 3.7 per cent, Sonipat 3.5 per cent, Faridabad 3.3 per cent, Panipat 2.8 per cent, Alwar 2.4 per cent, Baghpat 2.1 per cent, Rohtak 2 per cent, Rewari 1.8 per cent, Bulandshahr and Bhiwani 0.8 per cent each, Mahendragarh 0.7 per cent and Karnal 0.6 per cent, the data showed.
Stubble burning accounted for 5.1 per cent of the pollution, while other sources contributed 9.5 per cent, according to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management.
The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, settled at 32.2 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 19 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The maximum temperature at Palam settled at 29.8 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 18.3 degrees Celsius.
Lodhi Road recorded a high of 32 degrees Celsius and a low of 18.6 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature at the Ridge station was 31.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum was 19.2 degrees Celsius. Ayanagar recorded a high of 31.6 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 19.1 degrees Celsius.
The IMD has forecast partly cloudy skies for Saturday, with the maximum temperature likely to settle at 33 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 19 degrees Celsius. PTI SGV DIV
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