Air quality in Delhi surfaced close to the ‘severe’ mark on Friday morning, a day after the CAQM lifted Tier 3 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) in the National Capital Region (NCR).
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 384 at 7:00 am on November 28.
The 24-hour average at 4:00 PM on Thursday was 377. By 8:00 PM, the AQI had reached 381 and was rising. Several stations were reporting “severe” AQIs late last night.
The capital has been dealing with poor air quality for the last 14 days.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered “poor”, 301 and 400 as “very poor” and 401 and 500 as “severe”, according to the CPCB.
However, forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology indicate that the air will remain in the “very bad” category.
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No GRAP 3
The sub-committee of the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) is said to have not met on Thursday, despite the worsening air quality in the city. Officials expect the AQI to improve again on Friday.
“Based on the forecast provided by the IMD and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, we are told that the AQI will worsen slightly on Thursday as the wind speed will decrease,” a Hindustan Times report quoted a CAQM official as saying.
“However, by Thursday evening and from Friday, the wind is expected to pick up again, so the AQI is unlikely to touch 400 and fall into the severe category,” the official said, adding that the situation was being closely monitored.
During winter, Delhi-NCR enforces restrictions under GRAP, which categorizes air quality into four grades — Grade 1 (Poor, AQI 201-300), Grade 2 (Very Poor, AQI 301-400), Grade 3 (Severe, AQI 401-450, AQI 401-450, Stage S) and Grade S).
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Temperature in Delhi will remain below average today
The Meteorological Agency has predicted dense fog in Delhi from November 28 to November 30 in the early morning hours. “Partly cloudy sky. Shallow fog during morning hours,” the IMD said in its bulletin.
It also said the temperature in the capital would remain 1 to 2 degrees Celsius below normal. “Maximum and minimum temperatures over Delhi are likely to be in the range of 25 to 27°C and 09 to 11°C, respectively. Minimum temperatures will be below normal (-0.7 to -1.3°C) and maximum temperatures will be below normal (-1 to -2°C) over Delhi.”
The Met Department said the prevailing surface winds are likely to be from the northerly direction, with light winds gradually increasing to 5 kmph during the morning hours.
“Wind speed will increase to less than 10 kmph from North-North-West direction in the afternoon. Wind speed will decrease and will be less than 05 kmph from North-West during evening and night,” IMD said.
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Adverse meteorological conditions combined with vehicular emissions, rice straw burning, firecrackers and other local sources of pollution lead to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi-NCR during winter.
