Local emission sources contributed 31% and external sources 69% to overall air pollution in the city, with the contribution of stubble burning spiking to 16.2% against 8.2% Tuesday. New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated further within very poor levels Wednesday, inching closer to the severe category.
“While transport remains the top local polluter, the spike has been intensified by regional farm fires surging during the last few days, pushing stubble smoke’s contribution to over 8 to 11%.
Trapped local emissions and weather stagnation drive this crisis, with farm fires acting as a serious add-on,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of CSE.
The air quality index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, was 377 against 350 a day earlier at 4pm. The share of pollution from stubble burning in neighbouring states has drastically increased, with Decision Support System’s models predicting the share to rise to 20% by Friday – more than the share of vehicular pollution, which so far had dominated the city’s emission inventory, according to IITM’s forecast. Despite the GRAP-II restrictions put in place by CAQM Monday and several restrictions already being implemented by Delhi govt since Nov 1 under its new winter pollution framework, AQI in many city areas has already turned severe. Under Delhi govt’s new anti-pollution framework, private construction has been banned from Nov 1 to Jan 31, with a blanket ban between Dec 10 and Jan 20. The maximum temperature at base station Safdarjung was 29.8 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, against 29.1 degrees Celsius a day earlier. The minimum temperature was 16.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, against 16.4 a day earlier.
The pollution monitoring agencies are anticipating the pollution levels to spike further to severe by Friday. It has also banned the entry of non-Delhi-registered BS-IV or below vehicles under GRAP-II. The city saw a hazy and partly cloudy sky Wednesday, with the Met department expecting shallow fog and mist Thursday morning. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Delhi | Silver Rate in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi | Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Petrol Price in Delhi | Diesel Price in Delhi | CNG Price in Delhi | LPG Price in Delhi