No improvement was witnessed in the air quality of the national capital on Wednesday as the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi continued to remain in the 'Very Poor' category at 387, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board at 10 am.
The pollution level in the National Capital Region (NCR), especially Noida and Gurugram, witnessed a drastic deterioration. The AQI in Noida dropped from the upper end of 'very poor' category to the upper end of the 'Severe' category at 479 today. The air quality in Gurugram has also deteriorated from yesterday, but remains in the 'Very Poor' category at 352, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
As per SAFAR's bulletin, the air quality in Delhi is likely to slip to the lower end of the 'Severe' category by today.
"Surface Winds are likely to be very calm with a low ventilation index pushing AQI to severe by today and fluctuate between severe to upper end of very poor thereafter until November 18," it said.
The agency also said that the intrusion of stubble burning related pollutants into Delhi is not likely for the two days due to unfavorable (winds coming from east direction) transport level winds.
The effective farm fire count has reduced to 1820 and its contribution to Delhi's PM2.5 yesterday was 8 per cent, SAFAR reported.
"The peak in fire count appears to have reached last week and fire counts are now starting to show a declining trend which is delayed by about one week from the previous year due to the late withdrawal of the monsoon," the bulletin further said.
As per India Meteorological Department's (IMD) outlook, the air quality is likely to remain in the 'Very Poor' category and "improve significantly from November 21 owing to relatively strong winds."
As per the IMD, Delhi today recorded a minimum temperature of 9.6 degrees Celsius (°C), while the maximum temperature recorded was 27 degrees Celsius (°C). "The sky is likely to remain partly cloudy with mist," it added.
An AQI between zero 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'.
( With inputs from ANI )
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