Air quality in Delhi improved on Wednesday with the concentrations of harmful particulate matter (PM) going down to ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ from ‘severe’ and ‘very poor’ levels earlier in the week.
As per the Union Earth Science Ministry’s SAFAR index, the 24-hour rolling average of PM10 in the evening was 237 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) or ‘moderate’. This was just over double the safe level of 100 ug/m3.
The 24-hour average of PM2.5 was 106 ug/m3, which though still in the ‘poor’ category was less than the high values seen last week.
Levels of PM2.5 had peaked to several times over the standard of 60 ug/m3 in November.
Clean air
At some spots in the city, the level of PM2.5 even dipped below the safe limit. For instance, at Punjabi Bagh, the PM2.5 level was 48 ug/m3 at 5 p.m. and 5.30 p.m.
While the wind swept up pollution on Wednesday, the forecast for the rest of the week shows that air quality may deteriorate.
That being said, the PM10 and PM2.5 levels are expected to stay ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’ respectively.
Air quality to get worse
With the temperature expected to dip in the coming weeks, the air quality in the Capital is likely to get worse. While the pollution last winter had prompted the Delhi government to launch the odd-even action, this year, so far, the government has not announced any such initiatives.
