The air quality of Delhi, Gurugram and Noida improved to “moderate” category on Friday, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The air quality of the national capital is predicted to stay in “moderate” to “poor” levels on Saturday.
Rainfall too helped
The air quality improved on Friday as the surface winds were fast and there was rainfall in the surrounding regions.
The last time Delhi’s air quality was in the “moderate” category was for just a day on November 17. For the rest of the month, the air quality has been worse than it. “The AQI is forecast to stay in the moderate to ‘poor category for the next two days. Surface winds are forecast to decrease by November 30 and AQI will be in the ‘poor’ to the lower end of ‘very poor’ category likely,” said government-run monitoring agency, System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
The AQI of Delhi was 137 on Friday, better than 302 on Thursday, as per CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. The values for Gurugram and Noida were 107 and 125 respectively. Delhi’s AQI was 171 on November 17.
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 136, said SAFAR.