New Delhi, Nov 5: The air quality in Delhi remains in the ‘hazardous’ category two days after Diwali. The situation — triggered by the bursting of firecrackers and stubble burning in neighbouring states — is unlikely to improve drastically in the next few days.
Experts said the air quality turned severe due to unfavourable meteorological conditions — calm winds, low temperature and low mixing height — and a poisonous cocktail of emissions from firecrackers and stubble burning, PTI reported.
The situation is unlikely to improve till next week amid reports of stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab alone has more than 3,500 stubble burning spots as shown by satellite data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
These spots are unlikely to reduce immediately as the peak harvesting season is going to start in the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana and hence, the problem might actually aggravate if the meteorological conditions become unfavorable once again.
Delhi Air is still in the ‘hazardous category’ for most places. On Saturday morning, Anand Vihar and Faridabad recorded an AQI above 600. While most of the places, including India Gate, Mandir Marg, Sriniwaspuri still have an AQI of 400. Data provided by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) on Saturday morning showed the overall AQI for Delhi at 456, which is on the higher side of the ‘severe’ category.
The situation is likely to improve later in the day as wind speed is expected to increase. But the wind direction is from the northwest, which will bring stubble burning pollution to Delhi. As the number of stubble burning points is still high in Punjab and Haryana, it is improbable that air quality will improve drastically before Monday.
Compared to Friday, the smog situation has improved in the capital with an improvement in visibility in the morning. A visibility between 600 metre and 800 metre was reported at two airports on Saturday morning.
