Air quality in the Capital remained hazardous on Tuesday as there was hardly any wind to sweep away the pollution that had been built up over the past few days.
However, the Delhi Government said that levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the locations being monitored during the odd-even experiment had shown a “definitive declining trend”.
On Monday, the first working day since the experiment began, levels of PM2.5 in 20 locations was between 200 and 436 micrograms per cubic metre. In 13 of those locations was less than 300 micrograms per cubic metre, which is 100 units less than the average for previous years, said the government in a statement on Tuesday.
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Levels of PM10 were from 485 to 1,093 micrograms per cubic metre in the 20 locations, with areas bordering other States being much higher than that in Central Delhi.
Meanwhile, according to the SAFAR air quality index, the level of PM2.5 was “severe” and PM10 was “very poor” on Tuesday.
Environmentalists said that the effectiveness of the odd-even policy cannot be gauged by daily air quality data. “Overall pollution levels, especially in the night and evening, are high this week. The weather is hostile, there is barely any wind so pollution is builing up,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, head of the Centre for Science and Environment's clean air campaign.
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She added that from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., when the odd-even restrictions are in play, the levels of pollution are dropping “more sharply and quickly” than usual.
“All over the world, this kind of plan is done in an emergency situation when air quality is already very bad,” she said.