Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further on Wednesday, with the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) climbing to 377, the highest since January 20, as 22 of the city’s 59 monitoring stations recorded pollution levels in the severe category. According to a private tracker, aqi.in, breathing the toxic air is equivalent to smoking at least 13.6 cigarettes a day.
With Diwali approaching and stubble burning continuing in neighbouring States, the national Capital is bracing for another spell of worsening air quality, with forecasts indicating a possible shift to the severe category later this week.
Wednesday’s reading was the worst in 288 days, marginally surpassing the previous day’s AQI of 350. The city had last recorded a higher reading on January 20, when the index stood at 378. Although the overall AQI remained in the very poor category, several neighbourhoods were already experiencing severe pollution.
IIT Delhi recorded the highest AQI at 458, followed by Jahangirpuri and Punjabi Bagh at 448 each.
Mundka registered an AQI of 439. Of the 59 monitoring stations, 32 were in the very poor category, and five recorded poor air quality, according to the data. The Air Quality Early Warning System has forecast that Delhi’s air quality will remain very poor on Thursday before deteriorating to the severe category between November 6 and 7. The outlook for the coming days has added to concerns ahead of Diwali, which falls on November 8 this year.
The pollutant mix also shifted on Wednesday. PM10 emerged as the dominant pollutant in the Decision Support System’s assessment, compared with the preceding three days when PM2.5 was the principal contributor. PM10 consists of relatively coarse particles, commonly associated with road dust, construction activity and other sources of dust emissions.
According to the Decision Support System (DSS), stubble burning contributed 20.2 per cent to Delhi’s pollution on Wednesday, while transport emissions accounted for 15.5 per cent. Among other local sources, residential emissions contributed 3.8 per cent, industrial activity 2.9 per cent, construction 2.2 per cent, waste burning 1.3 per cent and road dust 1.1 per cent. Other sectors accounted for one per cent.
Data from the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory at the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute showed that 4,800 crop-residue burning incidents had been detected across seven States and Union Territories, including Delhi, between September 15 and November 4.
The deterioration comes despite the implementation of Stage II measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the National Capital Region.