The air quality of Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram was in the “very poor” category on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
“The ventilation is likely to stay in the same range and no significant change in AQI is expected for the next couple of days. AQI is likely to stay in the very poor category for the next two days. AQI is likely to marginally improve to the lower end of very poor to poor category on Feb. 15,” said a statement by the government-run monitoring agency SAFAR. (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research).
The speed of surface-level winds reduced to “low”, which led to accumulation of pollutants near the surface. Also, the “mixing layer height”, which is the height from the ground level up to which pollutants can be dispersed, was “moderate”. This led to lesser accumulation of pollutants near the surface.
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The AQI of Delhi was 341 on Friday, as per CPCB’s 4 pm bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. The values for Gurugram and Noida were 347 and 363.