Air quality in Delhi remains in it’s atmost poor condition , Govt shares NASA images of crop burning

Delhi air quality on Wednesday morning remained poor with both PM 2.5 and PM 10 hovering much above the permissible limit. The AAP government has also released a NASA image showing large scale stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. Generator sets, barring those being used in emergency services, have been banned in the national capital area.

The image clearly indicates stubble burning points in Punjab and Haryana, along with other areas. Wind pattern forecast and variation in concentration of particulate matter charts are also being released. The image and charts are self-explanatory,” the environment minister, Kailash Gehlot, wrote in a letter to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.

According to a PTI report, the overall air quality index (AQI) of the region as hoving around 275 at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, while the neighbouring regions of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Loni Dehat inched past the 300-mark. An AQI ranging from 0 to 50 is considered ‘good’; 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’; 101 to 200 is ‘moderate’; 201 to 300 is ‘poor’; 301 to 400 is ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 is ‘severe’.

A report from the centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research held some hope for the national capital between renewed reports of crop burning. “Surface winds are slow and variable, and the wind direction at the surface and transport height is south-southwesterly, which is not quite favourable for efficient transport of fire plumes towards Delhi.

In this condition, drastic deterioration of air quality is not expected over the next two days,” the report said, predicting that the city’s AQI will fluctuate between the higher end of “poor” category and the lower end of the “very poor” category.

The India Meteorological Department said that the city’s air quality is likely to improve due to changing weather conditions. “A fresh western disturbance may impact the Western Himalayan region.