Delhi’s air quality plummeted to “hazardous” levels on Friday morning, with the city recording an overall Air Quality Index of 727, according to Swiss monitor IQ Air.
The national capital has been battling deteriorating air conditions since Diwali, as a mix of post-festival pollution, farm fires in neighboring states, and low wind activity keeps pollutants trapped over the city.
However, officials say a marginal improvement is expected later in the day when the wind speeds pick up.
Delhi’s air quality plunged into the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday, with an overall AQI recorded at 4 pm as 311, which puts Delhi in the ‘red zone.’ This is as per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Also Read: Smog Returns to Delhi: AQI Crosses 400 in Several Areas Amid Fog & Calm Winds
Delhi is 4th among the most polluted Indian cities
Delhi ranked fourth among the most polluted cities, while Rohtak topped the list in the ‘very poor’ category with an AQI of 348 out of 254 cities. PM 2.5 remained the key pollutant on Thursday, while 32 out of 38 monitoring stations reported air quality in the ‘very poor’ category, with readings above 300, according to CPCB’s Sameer App.
Stubble burning is a major contributor
According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, stubble burning is forecasted to be the highest contributor to Delhi’s PM2.5 concentration, with the air quality likely to deteriorate to the ‘very poor’ category from Thursday onwards.
According to the daily mean of the local and non-local fractional contribution to PM2.5 in Delhi predicted by the DSS, the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM2.5 is estimated at 21.5 percent on Thursday, rising to 36.9 percent on Friday and 32.4 percent on Saturday, up from a mere 1.2 percent on Wednesday.
According to the satellite data, 94 stubble-burning cases were detected in Punjab, 13 in Haryana, and 74 in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, PTI reported.
The second biggest contributor is expected to be transport, at 16.2 percent on Thursday, 11.2 percent on Friday, and 12.3 percent on Saturday.
Protests against poor air quality in Delhi
Meanwhile, student and activist groups staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here on Thursday over what they called the failure of the central and Delhi governments to address the deepening climate crisis and choking air pollution in the national capital, PTI reported.
More than 80 protesters carried posters and banners during the protest organized by Scientists for Society and the Campaign for the Right to Public Health.
The protest also saw participation from students, activists, journalists, artists, and representatives of organizations such as Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Disha Students’ Organisation, among others.
Also Read: Delhi Air Quality Remains Hazardous as It Reaches Above 400
