Delhi air turns very poor, agencies put on high alert

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated substantially on Thursday and entered the very poor category. The air quality index (AQI) touched 382, worse than Wednesday’s “poor” AQI of 296. At 7.6 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature on Thursday also touched the lowest of this season.
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Neighbouring NCR towns of Ghaziabad (432), Greater Noida (417), and Noida (414) recorded “severe” air quality on Thursday.Gurugram(328) was the cleanest with a “very poor” AQI.

With the foul air days predicted in the coming few days, the CPCB-led GRAP task force has asked all implementing agencies to be on high alert and take stringent measures to control air polluting activities. “Enforcement activities may be intensified particularly in hotspot and industrial areas. Public may minimise use of private vehicles,” the task force recommended.
“Slow surface winds having speed to the tune of 4 km per hour are expected to continue till December 10. The wind direction is expected to shift to north-east from tomorrow onwards. This may result in further deterioration in the air quality. The AQI may fall in the lower end of the severe category by tomorrow. From December 11, rains with thunderstorms may occur and result in improvement of air quality.”
According to SAFAR, “the air quality is forecast to deteriorate to the higher-end of the very poor category by tonight. Further deterioration is likely tomorrow, and the AQI may stay at the border of the very poor to the severe category until Saturday.”
On Thursday, Safdarjung observatory recorded the lowest minimum of the season at 7.6 degrees Celsius. The previous lowest (7.9 degrees Celsius)was on Wednesday. On Friday, partly cloudy sky with dense to moderate fog in the morning is likely, and the minimum temperature may be around 7 degrees Celsius.