Delhi Pollution: Air Quality To Deteriorate Again In Few Days After Improvement In AQI

Delhi-NCR's AQI after it registered a slight improvement by falling under the 'poor' category, is likely to return to the 'very poor' category due to a change in the wind direction from Wednesday.

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New Delhi: The National Capital which is still recovering from the high pollution rate from the Delhi government took some drastic measures like closing down schools and colleges, stopping construction especially after Diwali is likely to see a rise in pollution again.

Delhi-NCR's Air Quality Index (AQI), after it registered a slight improvement by falling under the 'poor' category, is likely to return to the 'very poor' category due to a change in the wind direction from Wednesday onwards, reported IANS.

According to the report, the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (Ministry of Earth Sciences) said: "The predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from Northwest direction during daytime and from Northeast direction during evening/night with wind speed 05-10 kmph and mainly clear sky on November 23."

It stated on November 24 the predominant surface wind is likely to be coming from the Southeast direction of Delhi with wind speed 05-10 kmph, mainly clear sky and shallow fog in the morning and on the November 25 the wind is likely to be coming from the Northwest direction of Delhi with wind speed 05-08 kmph, mainly clear sky and shallow fog in the morning.

On Sunday, the air quality visibly improved in Delhi after strong surface winds swept through the city, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

It added that the AQI on Wednesday stood at 280 under the 'poor' category. The level of PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollutants at 9 a.m. was recorded at 114 (poor) and 220 (moderate), respectively.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good'; 51 and 100 'satisfactory'; 101 and 200 'moderate'; 201 and 300 'poor'; 301 and 400 'very poor'; then between 401 and 500 'severe'.

Delhi's minimum temperature dipped to 9 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, with India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting a mainly clear sky throughout the day. The maximum temperature for the day is pegged at 27 degrees Celsius and the relative humidity at 8.30 a.m. was 95 per cent.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Monday announced that prohibitions on construction and demolition operations imposed by the Delhi government has been removed. The restriction on non-essential vehicles entering the national capital, as well as work from home for the Delhi government and MCD personnel, would remain in place till November 26.