Delhi air set to worsen to ‘poor’ for first time this season

The effect of stubble burning is currently almost negligible (0.2%) in Delhi’s air, but is expected to touch almost 12% by Wednesday (File photo)

NEW DELHI: Brace for polluted days ahead as Delhi’s air quality is predicted to deteriorate to the ‘poor’ category for the first time this season by Monday.Though the city’s air quality index (AQI) Sunday was recorded at 187 — at the higher end of the ‘moderate’ bracket — the air was ‘poor’ at 22 locations.ITO, which returned a reading of 430 (‘severe’), was the most polluted location in Delhi. Then came Vivek Vihar (264), RK Puram and Jahangirpuri (both 262).The city recorded exactly the same AQI of 187 on Oct 4. A higher reading than this — 246 (‘poor’) — was last taken on July 24 when dust travelled from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan towards north-west India, including Delhi.This Friday, the city’s air quality improved to 90 (‘satisfactory’) following a spell of rain. However, it started worsening after the showers stopped, with AQI touching 159 Saturday. With winds expected to slow down, the index is expected to rise.“AQI is likely to be ‘poor’ from Monday to Wednesday and the next six days,” according to Air Quality Early Warning System, which functions under Union ministry of earth sciences. Stage I of Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is invoked when AQI turns ‘poor’.According to Decision Support System (DSS), a model which estimates the contribution of various sources to Delhi’s PM2.5, the effect of stubble burning is currently almost negligible (0.2%) in Delhi’s air, but is expected to touch almost 12% by Wednesday.The highest estimated contributor to PM2.5 Sunday was the city’s transport sector (23.2%), followed by emissions from Gautam Budh Nagar (8.7%) and Ghaziabad (8.4%).Delhi’s maximum temperature was recorded at 31.7 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. It was 32.6 degrees C a day earlier. It is forecast to stay between 31 and 33 degrees C over the next two days.The minimum temperature dipped to 18.6 degrees C, which is near normal for this time of the year. It is likely to hover between 18 and 20 degrees C for the next two days. In Oct last year, the lowest minimum of 15.8 degrees C was recorded on Oct 26.