The national capital’s air quality improved marginally on Monday, with the AQI falling to 351 from 377 a day earlier, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) 4 p.m. national bulletin. Both readings fall in the ‘very poor’ category.
Meteorological factors, especially westerly winds, played a key role in dispersing pollutants and lowering the city’s AQI. “Westerly winds prevailed, with wind speeds gusting up to 19 kmph in the past 24 hours over Delhi,” said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Experts from the Air Quality Early Warning System have forecast that pollution levels in Delhi are likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the next six days.
As per CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.
The contribution of stubble burning to the capital’s pollution has shown a declining trend since Monday, according to data from the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi, falling to nearly 8.292 per cent from Sunday’s 12.04 per cent.
The DSS has forecast that the contribution from stubble burning will further decline to 7.7 per cent over the next three days.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded a further drop in minimum temperature, which settled at 8.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest in November in the last three years. The maximum temperature remained near normal at 27.1 degrees Celsius, according to IMD data.