Delhi air quality stays very poor for fourth day, severe forecast for Diwali weekend
The city's Air Quality Index remained at 369 on Thursday, with forecasts predicting a deterioration to severe levels through Sunday.
Delhi's air quality remained in the very poor category for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, according to reports from The Indian Express, Hindustan Times and The Pioneer. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 369 at 4 pm, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) has forecast that the air quality will deteriorate to the severe category from Friday to Sunday. The Indian Institute of Meteorology (IITM) bulletin noted that the outlook for the subsequent six days is likely to remain between the severe and very poor categories.
On Thursday, 22 of the 59 active monitoring stations in the capital recorded severe air quality. Punjabi Bagh reported the highest AQI at 459, while Jahangirpuri recorded 457, according to Hindustan Times.
The Decision Support System (DSS) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences estimated the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi's PM2.5 levels at 15.6 per cent on Thursday. This figure is forecast to rise to 19.2 per cent on Friday before dropping to 1.6 per cent on Saturday.
Sunil Dahiya of EnviroCatalysts said the expected fall in the farm-fire share is a weather effect rather than a drop in burning. He noted that as a western disturbance moves in, north-westerly winds carrying smoke from Punjab and Haryana are forecast to weaken and turn easterly around Diwali.
The DSS also estimated that the contribution of transport emissions is expected to increase from 17.9 per cent on Thursday to 21.1 per cent by Saturday.
