New Delhi, Oct 26 Delhi on Monday recorded a minimum temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest so far this month, and a ‘moderate’ air quality.
The city recorded a maximum temperature of 31.4 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees below normal.
The Air Quality Index at 174 was higher than the previous day’s 153.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as good, 51 and 100 as satisfactory, 101 and 200 as moderate, 201 and 300 as poor, 301 and 400 as very poor, and 401 and 500 as severe.
Of the 57 air quality monitoring stations in Delhi, 18 recorded poor air quality, one station, Ghogha, recorded satisfactory air quality, and the rest recorded moderate air quality.
The highest AQI was recorded at CRRI Mathura Road at 248.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the ventilation index is expected to remain below 6,000 square metres per second, with average wind speeds below 10 kmph, conditions unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
The city’s air quality is likely to deteriorate to poor on October 27 and 28, and improve to moderate on October 29. The outlook for the subsequent six days indicates moderate to poor air quality, the system said.
According to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi, transport emissions contributed 23.8 per cent, the highest, to the city’s pollution. Residential sources’ contribution to air pollution was 6 per cent, industries’ was 4.9 per cent, construction activities’ was 3.3 per cent, energy and waste burning contributed 2.2 per cent each, and road dust and other sectors 1.6 per cent each.
Among the National Capital Region districts, Sonipat contributed 7.2 per cent, followed by Jhajjar at 6 per cent, Gurugram at 2.5 per cent, and Ghaziabad and Rohtak at 2.3 per cent each.
Gautam Buddha Nagar and Baghpat contributed 1.7 per cent each, Jind 1.3 per cent, Meerut 1 per cent, Faridabad 0.9 per cent, Muzaffarnagar 0.8 per cent, and Bulandshahr 0.5 per cent.
Stubble burning contributed up to 4.6 per cent to Delhi’s pollution, according to the Decision Support System.
Meanwhile, satellite data from the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute for October 25 detected 112 farm-fire events in six states: 32 in Rajasthan, 29 in Madhya Pradesh, 25 in Uttar Pradesh, 18 in Uttarakhand, seven in Punjab and one in Haryana.
No farm-fire events were detected in Delhi that day.
A total of 1,935 farm-fire events were detected across these six states between September 15 and October 25.
A total of 581 such incidents were recorded in Punjab, 19 in Haryana, 286 in Uttar Pradesh, 438 in Rajasthan, 141 in Uttarakhand, and 468 in Madhya Pradesh.
Two events were recorded in Delhi during the period – the first on September 19 and the second on October 24.
At the Safdarjung weather station, the maximum temperature rose by 0.3 degrees Celsius, and the minimum fell by 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past 24 hours. Palam recorded a maximum of 29.3 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees below normal, and a minimum of 16.3 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees below normal.
Lodhi Road recorded a maximum of 31.4 degrees Celsius, 0.6 degrees below normal, and a minimum of 16 degrees Celsius, near normal. The Ridge recorded a maximum of 31 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees below normal, and a minimum of 16.6 degrees Celsius, 1.9 degrees below normal.
Ayanagar recorded a maximum of 31.1 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees below normal, and a minimum of 15.7 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees below normal.
No rainfall was recorded at any of the five weather stations during the 24 hours ending at 5.30 pm.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Delhi is likely to witness mainly clear to partly cloudy skies until October 28. Thunderstorms accompanied by rain are possible on October 29 and 30.
(PTI News)
