As winter nears, Delhi on Wednesday woke up to the season's first poor air quality day as the Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 227 at 7:00 AM, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The air quality turned poor overnight as Dussehra celebrations swept the national capital on Tuesday evening. The emissions from Durga Puja festivities, followed by the Dussehra firecrackers and effigy burnings, added to the emissions to the air.
As per the data, the overall AQI stood at 90 on Friday, before climbing up to 159 on Saturday and 187 on Sunday. On Monday, the AQI improved to 139 before falling again to 179.
The CPCB classifies an AQI of 0-50 as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor and 401-500 as severe. Before Wednesday, the last poor air quality was recorded in the national capital on July 13 when the AQI stood at 246. On July 12, a day earlier, it had shot up to 261.
Why Delhi's air turned poor suddenly
The rise on Wednesday is alarming but was forecast by the air quality early warning system. As per the forecast, the air is likely to remain 'poor' till October 28.
While festivity emissions are a contributing factor, other reasons include unfavourable meteorological conditions that hampered the dispersal of pollutants. The wind speed is likely to remain less than 10 kmph.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, a NASA satellite has also counted 182 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana between October 18 and October 20.
This month, the total farm fire incidents stand at 397, which is far fewer than 523 incidents recorded over the same dates last season. Notably, the data does not record incidents after 4 PM when farmers mostly put fire to evade satellite coverage.