Pollution level in Delhi dipped on Monday night as PM 2.5 level reached 'very poor' from 'severe' category. High wind speed on Monday has led to the improvement in the air quality in Delhi-NCR. Delhi government's odd-even scheme that commenced on Monday is also said to have helped.
According to government pollution monitoring agency SAFAR, the air quality in Delhi on November 5 was noted at 381 level at around 8:30am, which was at 588 mark on Monday.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitoring agency, SAFAR, said, "High surface and boundary layer winds are expected on Tuesday also. A fresh western disturbance, scattered rainfall and change in wind direction are likely to positively influence the AQI in the region".
However, major pollutants PM 2.5 and PM 10 were recorded in Lodhi Road area at 500 and 413, which is in 'severe' category, according to Air Quality Index (AQI) data.
The Delhi government shared data that showed a drastic improvement in PM10 and PM2.5 levels overall in the city. According to the data, the levels of PM2.5 -- tiny particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter that can enter the lungs and even the bloodstream -- reduced from 562 micrograms per cubic metre at 6am to 94 micrograms per cubic meter at 6 pm on Monday evening.
Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, "The two main reasons for the improvement in air quality are increased wind speed and no cloud cover. The situation will improve on Tuesday with wind speed increasing further."
With winds gusting up to 20 kilometres per hour dispersing pollutants faster, the visibility level improved to 2,000 metres on Monday night.
Besides, the IMD said cyclone Maha and a western disturbance will cause rainfall in parts of the northern plains, covering Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-NCR, on November 6 and 7, which will improve the situation further.
As per SAFAR, here is AQI in the following region on Tuesday, 8.30 am:
An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.
(With PTI inputs)
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