The national capital woke up to a layer of thick haze on Tuesday even as extremely high level of suspended particulate matters kept the air quality “poor” with the situation likely to persist for few more days.
According to a senior IMD official, the haze is a result of falling temperature, moisture and calm wind movement. There is no possibility of wind blowing away the pollutants at least before November 5. “The minimum as well as the maximum temperature has come down considerably. These coupled with moisture and lack of wind have made the particles stagnant. The situation may worsen during diwali,” the official said.
The average levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 (can penetrate deep into the lungs) were 157 and 264 microgram per cubic metre respectively, much more than the safe limits of 60 and 100. The figures by SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research) is a round up of figures from 10 stations across the capital. Data from Gurgaon and Noida showed that the intensity of the pollution was high across the NCR region. While PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels were 252 and 258 in Gurgaon, the same were 269 and 259 in Noida.
As per Delhi pollution control committee data, west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh locality breached the safe PM 2.5 levels by a huge margin with it being recorded at 468 at around 11.50 AM. PM 10 for the same was 440. Air in Anand Vihar continues to carry heavy amount of pollutants with PM 2.5 and PM 10 recorded at 199 and 503 at 2.30 PM respectively, which fell in the “hazardous” category of World Air Quality Index.
Meanwhile, after a series of alarming reports on deteriorating air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region due to crop burning, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday directed environment minister Imran Hussain to take up the issue with the Punjab and Haryana state governments.
The Delhi government will convene a meeting of the concerned departments and organisations on Wednesday to chart out effective steps to control air pollution in the city, which is leading to detrimental effects and smog formation.
