Air quality improved from severe to very poor on Sunday due to wind speed. According to SAFAR, stubble burning contribution in PM 2.5 reduced to 12 per cent only. From November 16 onwards, air quality starts deteriorating due to calm winds and MeT factors.
According to the forecast from the Air Quality Early Warning System, the AQI will continue to remain in the very poor category till at least Tuesday.
In its short range air quality forecast, SAFAR said that AQI today indicated very poor category and is likely to improve for the next two days as winds at transport level are slowing down, resulting in lesser intrusion of farm fires related pollutants into Delhi. However, calm local winds reduce dispersion of pollutants. Net effect likely to make air quality remain very poor category. The effective farm fire count is almost the same like Saturday, 3445 and its contribution to Delhi's PM2.5 is 12 per cent.
"Implementation of lockdown for the next two days with restrictions in anthropogenic activity emitting pollutants, air quality may improve a little but likely to remain in very poor category for the next two days if stubble burning share does not increase," SAFAR said. "AQI is likely to deteriorate from November 16 night onwards due to calm wind conditions predicted by SAFAR. On November 17 it is likely to be in the upper end of very poor category," it added further.
Meanwhile, values of harmful pollutants - Particulate Matter (PM) 10 and 2.5 on National Ambient Air Quality Index (NAAQI), recorded at 267 and 143 micrograms per cubic.
On Saturday, as the air quality tagged in the severe category, the city Government had issued orders to shut schools for a week and asked all Government employees to work from home in order to protect the children. As employees move to working from home, the number of vehicles on the road is expected to dip, thereby reducing congestion.
Importantly, the IMD said that city will see fog between Monday and Saturday, as temperatures will continue to dip. On Sunday, the minimum temperature recorded was 10.1 degree Celsius, three degrees below normal. The maximum is expected to be around 26 degree Celsius.