Delhi sees poor AQI for first time since June

It was the worst air quality (highest AQI) for the month of September in nine years. The last time AQI levels was above 235 for the month was on September 29, 2015 with 237 AQI. In last six years the air quality has always been good, satisfactory or moderate in the month of September.

Delhi is expected to see light rain for at least six days, which is set to help clean the city’s air.

The primary contributor to the city’s air pollution is currently the transport sector, according to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi. On Tuesday, the AQI had been recorded in the “moderate” category, with a reading of 197 until 4 PM, the CPCB said.

Restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which are invoked once the AQI falls to the poor category (201 to 300), however, are not in the offing, as pollution levels are expected to dip further over the next few days.

The Sub-Committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has decided to keep a close watch on the situation for a day or more, before invoking restrictions.

“Delhi’s average AQI has already started showing a declining trend… and is further expected to improve with time,” the CAQM said in a statement. It also referred to an improvement in overall AQI expected as per the India Meteorological Data (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) forecasts.

As per the IITM forecast – designed to provide early air quality warning in the Capital – the AQI is expected to be in the moderate to poor category in the coming six days. A generally cloudy sky with light rain has been forecast until September 28 by the IMD.

The IMD’s extended range forecast from September 19 to October 2 forecasts southwest monsoon withdrawal to be majorly complete in a week from Thursday (September 26).

Paddy stubble burning, which contributes to Delhi’s overall pollution load, meanwhile, has started in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the data received from the daily bulletin on paddy residue burning prepared by Consortium for Research Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space, 166 such cases have been reported between September 15 and 25 across Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The number of cases in Haryana, at 70, has been the highest since 2020. In Punjab, 93 cases have been reported so far, higher than last year but below the 139 cases reported in 2022. Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, has seen only three cases so far.

V K Sehgal, nodal officer at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, said, “The burning detected so far is not concerning… The real problem will arise from October 15 and the expected peak time will be between October 26 and November 10.”

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in the Capital on Wednesday settled at 37.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average, according to the IMD. The minimum temperature was recorded at 26.8 degrees Celsius, 2.9 notches above normal while the humidity was 60 per cent at 5.30 pm. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 34 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius, respectively, on Thursday.