New Delhi: The Air quality of National Capital, Delhi, on Monday witnessed marginal improvement as it reached the lower end of the 'very poor' category with Air Quality Index (AQI) at 318 (overall), according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
The pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR), especially Noida and Gurugram, has also shown slight improvement. Noida reported AQI in the upper end of the 'very poor' category at 387, while in Gurugram it showed a significant improvement and reached the lower end of the 'very poor' category at 317.
As per SAFAR's bulletin, the AQI is likely to improve by November 16 "as winds at transport level are slowing down resulting in the lesser intrusion of farm fires related pollutants into Delhi."
However, calm local winds reduce the dispersion of pollutants, the net effect of which is likely to make air quality remain very poor category.
The effective farm fire count for yesterday was 3445, contributing to 12 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5.
The bulletin also stated that the implementation of lockdown for the two days with restrictions in anthropogenic activity emitting pollutants, air quality may improve a little.
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"Implementation of lockdown for the two days with restrictions in anthropogenic activity emitting pollutants, air quality may improve a little but likely to remain in the very poor category if stubble burning share does not increase," the bulletin stated.
It further said that the AQI is likely to deteriorate from November 16 night onwards due to calm wind conditions, as predicted.
"On November 17, it is likely to be in the upper end of the very poor category," they added.
The mercury in the capital city has dropped to 11.8 degrees Celcius on Sunday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Owing to high levels of air pollution, schools in Delhi and Haryana have been closed. All construction activities have also been shut down.
When the Air Quality Index is 0-50, it is considered in the 'good' category. 51-100 as 'satisfactory', 101-200 as 'moderate', 201-300 as 'poor', 301-400 as 'very poor', 400-500 as 'severe' and above 500 as ' it is considered in very serious category.
According to experts, fine particles present in the air (matter of less than 10 PM), ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitric dioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide all cause inflammation in the respiratory tract, allergies and damage to the lungs.
(ANI inputs)
