This story is from November 22, 2019

Gurugram’s air poor for second day in a row, likely to worsen today

City’s air worsened further on Thursday as the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 280 (poor).
Gurugram’s air poor for second day in a row, likely to worsen today
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GURUGRAM: City’s air worsened further on Thursday as the air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 280 (poor).
The AQI which was recorded at 225 (poor) on Wednesday was seen nearing the ‘very poor’ category (300) on Thursday. Accumulated pollutants took the form of a haze, thick enough to draw a veil across the sun, which left people with itchy eyes, headache and breathing problems.
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According to experts, the PM2.5 level rose to 280 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) on Wednesday evening and as the wind speed decreased the AQI too started rising.

According to the SAFAR monitor in the city, the highest level of PM2.5 was recorded at 327 µg/m³ (very poor) at 4 pm on Thursday.
Even though the city remained the least polluted in Delhi-NCR, Thursday was the second day of poor air quality in the city. All other cities recorded the AQI in ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ category. Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida recorded the AQI at 366 (very poor), 390 (very poor), 416 (severe), 400 (very poor) and 402 (severe), respectively. In Manesar the AQI remained at 254 (poor) category.

According to the Met department, continuously declining wind speed is responsible for worsening of the air quality. “There has been continuous deterioration in the air quality since the wind speed is going down since Wednesday. The situation is expected to worsen on Friday, but air quality might improve on Saturday as the wind speed is likely to increase,” said a Met official.
The EPCA, on Monday, had released special directions for three days (November 19-21) as the IMD alerted that the wind speed will go down in the region. According to SAFAR, the air quality may turn ‘very poor’ in the city on Friday and the AQI might go up to 335. The AQI is likely to in the poor category (291) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality turned fouler but remained in the ‘very poor’ category for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Delhi’s AQI, meanwhile, rose to 366 on Thursday, up from 301 on Wednesday.
As per CPCB’s central control room, the 24-hour average PM2.5 and PM10 readings were nearly three times the safe standards on Thursday. While NCR’s average PM2.5 was 202.2 µg/m³ at 8pm, the average PM10 concentration was 345.5 µg/m³.
According to SAFAR, further deterioration is expected and the air quality may touch the lower end of ‘severe’ by November 22.
Though fire counts are relatively high at 1,011, stubble level winds are easterly and not favourable for plume intrusion. Thursday’s stubble percentage share in Delhi’s PM2.5 was just 5% and negligible impact is expected for Friday as well.
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