National Capital’s air quality to sink to ‘severe’ this week
Delhi’s air quality remained “very poor” on Tuesday and is predicted to turn “severe” this week due to unfavorable meteorological conditions.
While, in the NCR cities, the air quality plunged to “severe” level in Ghaziabad, while it remained ‘very poor’ across Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Gurugram, according to data provided by a Government agency on Tuesday.
The presence of pollutants PM2.5 and PM10 also remained high in the five immediate neighbours of Delhi, according to the air quality index (AQI) maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The average 24-hour AQI at 4 pm on Tuesday was 367 in the national Capital, 424 in Ghaziabad, 388 in Greater Noida, 387 in Noida, 335 in Faridabad and 311 in Gurgaon, according to CPCB’s Sameer app.
According to the index, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
The maximum wind speed in Delhi was 8 kmph on Tuesday and is expected to be 10 kmph on Wednesday, the IMD said. The minimum temperature was 8.1 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and the maximum 27.2 degrees Celsius, it said. Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion.