NCR cities including Delhi remained troubled by poisonous air for the second consecutive day.
State Bureau, New Delhi. Due to adverse weather conditions, NCR cities including Delhi remained troubled with poisonous air for the second consecutive day on Sunday. The situation was such that the five most polluted cities of the country also belonged to NCR. Delhi's AQI was recorded the second highest in 11 years in the month of December. At present, there does not seem to be much improvement in this situation. According to the air quality bulletin issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi's AQI was recorded at 461 on Sunday. It was 431 on Saturday. That means within 24 hours it increased by 30 points. This was not only Delhi's most polluted day this season and this year, but also the second worst day of air pollution in December since the inception of AQI in April 2015. Higher pollution in December was recorded only on 21 December 2017, when the average AQI was 469. According to CPCB's Sameer App, on Sunday, AQI was above 400 at 38 of the 39 active air quality monitoring stations in Delhi. Only Shadipur was in the 'very poor' category. The AQI level in Wazirpur had reached a maximum of 500 (above which the CPCB does not measure), while other centers were close to it.
Throughout the day, the air quality level in Rohini also crossed 500, while Ashok Vihar (499) in North Delhi, Jahangirpuri (499) in North Delhi and Mundka (499) in West Delhi were also close to it. In NCR too, the air of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad was recorded as "severe" while that of Faridabad and Gurugram was recorded as "poor". According to experts, a thick layer of smoke remained in the capital even on Sunday, causing suffocation. Breathing became difficult and eyes started watering. Due to low wind speed and temperature, the pollutants got trapped and could not spread from the surface. According to forecasts, the winds are likely to increase after Monday afternoon, but the improvement will be gradual, that is, there is no possibility of immediate relief. Skymet Vice President Mahesh Palawat said that the winds were blowing from the eastern direction since Saturday. The wind speed had also slowed down considerably since Friday. The wind was almost calm and the temperature was also low. Air pollution further increased due to increased humidity, poor dispersion and fog. Usually, when the sun shines, the AQI improves when the winds increase, but this did not happen on Sunday. The wind speed also did not exceed five to six km/hour. Despite this increase, forecasts from the central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi suggest that the AQI may improve to the "very poor" level on Monday. Delhi's air quality is likely to remain in 'very poor' category from December 15 to 17. The forecast for the next six days (from December 18) is that the air quality will remain in the 'very poor' category.