Stubble Smoke-Carrying Winds to Slow-down By November 14-15; Slightly Improve Delhi’s AQI from ‘Severe’ to ‘Very Poor’

Within Delhi, the worst AQIs as of 4 p.m. in the evening were recorded by the air-monitoring stations located in Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium (AQI 476), followed by Dwarka-Sector 8 (473) and Patparganj (470). Several other areas follow the top three closely, as per the Central Pollution Control Board’s National Air Quality Index.

AQIs between 401-500 are categorised as ‘severe’, and getting exposed to such harmful air can result in serious impacts among those with existing diseases, while also affecting healthy people’s well-being. Further, AQIs between 301-400 are classified as ‘very poor’, those from 201-300 are ‘poor’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, and 0-50 ‘good’.

A major contributor to Delhi’s high levels of pollution at present is the sheer number of stubble fires burning in and around the land-locked capital. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the latest observed fire count was as high as 3,157.

Over the next two days, however, the winds transporting this stubble smoke into the capital are likely to slow down. This will result in lesser intrusion of farm fires, effectively bringing some improvement to Delhi’s overall air quality.

But this slight improvement may very well get cancelled out by the local winds becoming calmer and the minimum temperatures falling further. These conditions will prevent the efficient dispersion of pollutants, keeping Delhi’s AQI restricted between the upper end of the ‘very poor’ category and the lower end of the ‘severe’ category.

SAFAR has forecast Delhi’s overall AQI to hover around 398 come Sunday, November 14.

Authorities spring to action

In view of this serious environmental threat, the Supreme Court of India has told the Centre to consider implementing a two-day lockdown in order to keep the residents of the capital safe from exposure.

"Tell us how we can reduce AQI from 500 at least by 200 points. Take some urgent measures. Can you think of two days lockdown or something? How can people live? We want urgent measures to be taken and in two-three days’ time, the pollution should reduce" the CJI-led bench stated.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an emergency meeting on Saturday evening to discuss the deteriorating state of the national capital's air quality. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Environment Minister Gopal Rai and Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev will be present in the meeting.

The Graded Action Response Plan (GRAP) has also advised government and private offices, along with other establishments, to reduce vehicle usage by at least 30% on an emergency basis to curb vehicular emission.

The vehicle usage could be minimised by working from home, carpooling, and optimising field activities, etc, a sub-committee of GRAP constituted by Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) order said.

It has further advised people to limit outdoor activities to minimise their exposure.

(With inputs from IANS and The Times of India)

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