As the national Capital is gearing up to implement the ambitious odd-even vehicle formula to cut down pollution level in Delhi, the mother nature seems to have heard the imminent plight of motorists by reducing the toxic suspended particulate matters from Delhi’s air significantly on Friday and Saturday. The high-speed wind blowing at a particular angle reduced the pollution level. Besides, Friday being the Christmas holiday, it saw a fewer number of vehicles on roads, thus further aiding the cleaner air.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) under Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), the level of particulate matter (PM) 10 was recorded at 230.7, while the concentration of PM 2.5 was 140.8. This is the first time when advisory status of SAFAR was marked “moderate” for primary pollutant PM 10. The pollution index of SAFAR forcasts air quality relatively good for the next two days. It may be noted that for the last few months, advisory status of SAFAR has consistently been “severe” and “very poor” for the air quality of Delhi as level of both the PMs (10, 2.5) were above 400 and 250 respectively.
Not only the SAFAR index, but other monitoring stations of both Central and State Governments showed considerable drop of pollutants at different locations of the Capital.
Explaining the reason behind the same, Gopal Krishna, a city-based environmentalist, said that both wind direction and speed are majorly responsible for this significant drop in the pollution level. “At this moment, wind is blowing between 190 and 293 degree and the pollutant particles are blown away with the flow of the wind,” said Krishna.
He further attributed the fall in the pollution level to the holiday. “The vacation period of schools and Government departments is also a reason for the fall of pollutant particles. The concentration of noxious gases has also reduced in the city air as less vehicles ply on the roads,” he further elaborated.
It was a chilly day in the national Capital on Saturday with the minimum temperature recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below season’s average. The maximum temperature was recorded at 21.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal, at the Safdarjung observatory, considered the official temperature for the city.
Visibility was recorded at 800 meters at 8.30 AM. It improved as the day progressed, said a Met department official, adding that humidity in air oscillated between 38 and 94 per cent. The MeT office has predicted overcast conditions for Sunday
Real time air ambient data of Mandir Marg recorded at 8 pm by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) showed PM 10 to be 244, where as PM 2.5 was observed to be 130.
The mass concentrations of both the pollutants showed extremely reduced levels in other areas of the city including Civil lines, Punjabi Bagh and IGI airport.
In Punjabi Bagh area, PM 10 reduced to 210 while a week earlier, it was recorded at 350. PM 2.5 was observed to be 89.