Delhi’s air quality stood in the “severe” category on Saturday morning with monitoring agencies pinning hopes on a western disturbance which may improve meteorological conditions starting Sunday. The overall air continues to be in the “very poor” category with AQI at 389 on Saturday evening, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The city’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 421 at 8 am. Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri slammed the Arvind Kejriwal Government for failing to handle air pollution. This Government is clueless and has no idea how to tackle this issue,” Bidhuri said.
Delhi recorded just three severe air quality days in November last year, while it experienced 12 such days in 2021, the maximum in the month since the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) began monitoring.
There were nine such days in November 2020; 7 in 2019; 5 in 2018; 7 in 2017; 10 in 2016 and 6 in 2015, according to CPCB data. A scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a brief relief due to a likely improvement in meteorological conditions under the influence of a western disturbance expected to affect northwest India starting Sunday.
In the morning, the AQI stood at 551 in Sonia Vihar at 11 am, 469 in Rohini, 464 in Jehangirpuri, 462 in Vivek Vihar, 459 in Satyawati College, 457 in Patparganj, 456 in Wazirpur, 454 in Punjabi Bagh, 451 in Anand Vihar, 430 in National Stadium, 417 in Moti Bagh, 414 in Dilshad Garden, 428 in Ashok Vihar, 418 in Mandir Marg, 412 in Pusa, 392 ITO,
Delhi has been witnessing a gradual increase in AQI levels after a marginal improvement last Sunday.
The 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, was 415 on Friday, 390 on Thursday, 394 on Wednesday, 365 on Tuesday, 348 on Monday and 301 on Sunday (November 19).
By 6 pm, Anand Vihar entered the “very poor” category with PM 2.5 at 336 and PM 10 at 320 while the CO reached at 100 while NO2 was at 94, both in “satisfactory” levels.
The Bawana station recorded PM 10 at 423, in the “severe” category and PM 10 at 393, in the “very poor” category, while the CO reached 104 or “moderate”. At Aya Nagar, the PM 2.5 reached 152 and PM 10 was at 172, both under the “moderate” category, and the CO at 65, under the “satisfactory” category.
The AQI monitoring station at Dwarka Sector 8 recorded PM 10 at 485, in the “severe” category and PM 2.5 at 354 or “very poor” while the CO plunged to 134 or “moderate”.
The air quality at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport T3 area was in the “very poor” category with PM 2.5 at 336 and PM 10 at 304, while the CO was at 102, in “moderate” level. At ITO station, the PM 2.5 was recorded at 367, in the “very poor” category, and PM 10 was at 267, in the “poor” category. The CO was at 16, in “good” levels while NO2 rose to 299, in “poor” level.
The PM 2.5 at Okhla Phase-II was recorded at 312, in the “very poor” category while PM 10 reached 212, placing it under the “poor” category. The NO2 reached 170 and CO was at 134, both in “moderate” category.