Winds blow away pollutants, Delhi breathes best air since Sept 2024 | Latest News Delhi

New Delhi

Delhi’s air quality continued its improvement for a sixth consecutive day, clocking an air quality index (AQI) of 119—at the lower end of the “moderate” category—the Capital’s best air since it recorded a “satisfactory” AQI of 76 on September 29, 2024, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) daily air quality bulletin.

The improvement was aided by strong surface winds, which will start receding from Thursday afternoon and subsequently, lead to an increase in the minimum and maximum temperatures, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The AQI was 148 (“moderate”) on Tuesday, 156 on Monday, 125 on Sunday, 126 on Saturday and 121 on Friday. Delhi’s satellite cities also clocked improved air quality: Noida recorded an AQI of 98 (“satisfactory”), Greater Noida logged an AQI of 149 (“moderate”), and Gurugram recorded an AQI of 145 (“moderate”) on Wednesday.

CPCB classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president of Skymet meteorology, said, “Strong surface winds, of speed up to 40kmph, helped in dispersal of pollutants and kept the AQI low. The air quality will, however, deteriorate in the coming days as wind speed is expected to go down.”

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi, air quality is expected to remain in the “moderate” category for the next few days and then deteriorate to “poor” in the following days.

“The air quality is likely to be in the moderate category from Thursday to Saturday. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the moderate to poor category,” the AQEWS bulletin said on Wednesday evening.

Mercury dips

Delhi’s temperature, meanwhile, also saw a dip due to the strong winds, bringing an unexpected chill to the Capital’s air. The minimum at the Safdarjung weather station, which is representative of Delhi’s weather, was recorded a 11.8 degrees Celsius (°C), marking a sharp dip of 3.8°C from a day earlier and 1.6°C below normal.

The Lodhi Road and Ayanagar stations both recorded a minimum of 9.6°C.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 25°C, 2.4°C below normal and 2.5°C lower than the maximum of 27.5°C recorded a day earlier.

Krishna Mishra, a scientist at IMD, said, “The sustained wind speed was between 25-35 kmph, with gusts of speed 25 knots or approximately 48 kmph. This is because of a pressure gradient caused by a very strong western disturbance.”

“The western disturbance (WD) has been causing very heavy rainfall and snowfall in the western Himalayas, which is leading to a high pressure in the mountains and a low pressure on the plains. This pressure gradient is causing strong winds to flow from the high pressure area to low pressure area,” Mishra said.

However, with wind speed expected to dip, IMD forecasted the temperature to rise consistently from Thursday. The minimum is forecast to be between 12° and 14°C on Thursday and touch 16-18°C by next Monday. The maximum, according to IMD, is forecasted at 28-30°C on Thursday and 31-33°C on next Monday.