Air in Delhi now ‘severe’

AQI to deteriorate today, says SAFAR

The national capital’s air quality is likely to deteriorate further on December 23, 2020, even as it was in “severe” category the previous day.

The air quality of Delhi and Noida deteriorated to the “severe” category on Tuesday and Gurugram’s was in the higher end of the “very poor” category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The national capital’s air quality is likely to deteriorate on Wednesday.

“AQI is forecast to further deteriorate to the ‘higher end of the very poor category by Dec. 23 and Dec. 24 with quite a few regions may even experience severe AQI for a shorter time period, especially during the early morning,” said government-run monitoring agency, SAFAR.

 

The speed of surface-level winds is “low” and westerly in direction and the winds are likely to further slowdown, which will aid in the accumulation of pollutants. Faster surface winds help in the dispersion of pollutants. The effect of stubble burning on the city’s air quality was low, but mixing height, which is the height from the ground level up to which pollutants can be dispersed, was “low”. This also leads to the accumulation of pollutants near the surface. The AQI of Delhi was 418 on Tuesday, as per CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin.