The air quality of Delhi, Gurugram and Noida continued to be in the “very poor” category on Thursday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The national capital’s air quality is expected to improve on Sunday.
The Delhi government on Thursday also signed an MoU with Vidhi Centre of Legal Policy for suggesting legal reforms to fight air pollution in the city.
“Through this collaboration with Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, we hope to work on the next generation of solutions to further reduce air pollution in Delhi,” said Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD).
“The air quality is likely to marginally deteriorate for the next two days within the very poor owing to calm wind conditions. The AQI is likely to marginally improve on December 6 due to better ventilation,” said a statement by the government-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research).
The AQI of Delhi was 341 on Thursday, down from 373 on Wednesday, as per CPCB’s 4 pm bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. The values for Gurugram and Noida were 316 and 360 respectively.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good’’, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
The air quality was very poor on Thursday as the surface-level winds were moderate and south-westerly in direction.
The contribution of stubble burning in neighbouring States to PM2.5, a chief pollutant, in Delhi was estimated to be only 2% on Thursday. Also, the number of fire counts in neighbouring States were only 249, as per SAFAR.
