Stubble burning down to 17.8% but Delhi’s AQI remains in ‘very poor’ category

Delhi’s air quality remained perilously close to the ‘severe’ category with the air quality index (AQI) standing at 387 (very poor) at 12 noon on Friday.
The AQI was logged at 390 (very poor) at 11am and 387 (very poor) at 12PM, as compared to the 24-hour average AQI on Thursday, which was 377 (very poor).
Due to the high pollution levels, the visibility in the national Capital was also impacted.
According to the India Meteorological department (IMD), the visibility in Safdarjung around 9:30am was recorded at 800 metres, which showed slight improvement by 10am improving at 1,000 metres. It further rose to 1,200 metres by 11:30am.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed that out of the 40 AQI stations in Delhi, 18 stations had already recorded severe air as of 12pm on Friday, a further deterioration from 12 stations as recorded at 4pm on Thursday.
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The worst hit stations were Wazirpur with an AQI of 431, Rohini and Jahangirpuri with an AQI of 434 and Bawana with an AQI of 430.
CPCB classifies an AQI of 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.
According to the Centre’s Decision Support System (DSS), the stubble burning contribution to the national Capital’s pollution level showed a reduction on Thursday.
While the contribution was over 20% from Monday to Wednesday, it went down to 17.8% on Thursday.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to stay in the ‘very poor’ category for the upcoming days.
“The air quality is likely to be in ‘Very Poor’ category on Friday and likely to be in same category from Saturday to Monday. The outlook for subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in ‘very poor’ category,” said the AQEWS bulletin at 12pm.
According to AQEWS data, the predominant surface wind is likely to continue coming from variable directions in Delhi with wind speed 04-08 kmph, with contributions from north-westerly, easterly and south-easterly.