The residents of Delhi-NCR have a reason to be happy as the air quality has improved. As per the recordings of Sunday morning, the air quality was in ‘moderate’ stage. It has come as a relief as air quality had slipped into ‘very poor’ category at some of the places on last Thursday.
With deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had issued advisory notice to the government and private offices in Delhi-NCR to allow their employees to work from home. However, no such advisory was issued to the government or private schools.
The government-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said on Sunday that the overall air quality of Delhi has drastically improved to the higher end of the satisfactory category. At 8 am on Sunday, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was docked at 129, which falls in the 'moderate' category.
AQI range between 51 and 100, 101 and 200, 201 and 300, 301 and 400, and 401 and 500 are categorised as satisfactory, moderate, poor, very poor and hazardous.
Major pollutants with PM 2.5 were detected at 115 in 'moderate' category, while PM 10 was at 221, which is 'poor' category in Lodhi Road area. In Chandni Chowk area, PM 10 was detected at 391 which is 'very poor' and 169 in Mathura Road area which is 'moderate' category.
According to SAFAR, the improvement in Delhi air quality has come as stubble burning activity in Haryana, Punjab and other nearby regions has remained same in the past three days but there has been a change in circulation pattern. However, things are expected to get worse as North West wind are expected to change direction, dipping Delhi's air quality in the next couple of days.
