New Delhi: The AQI of Delhi improved to 193 in the ‘moderate’ category on Saturday as strong winds helped in the dispersal of pollutants. This was the sixth moderate day of the month. TOI earlier reported that this Dec recorded the highest number of moderate days ever. However, the air quality is likely to turn ‘very poor’ on Monday.
As winds picked up speed, the air quality started showing improvement. The AQI was 262 on Friday at 4pm, but it dropped to 207 at 8am on Saturday. The air quality entered the moderate category at 11am with an AQI of 198, which further improved to 193 at 4pm.
“Winds up to 12-16 kmph were recorded on Friday, which further reached up to 18 kmph on Saturday,” said a Met official.
From the period from Dec 1 to 14, 2024, six moderate days were recorded, said Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday. The commission said during the same period, only one moderate day was recorded each in 2018, 2019, and 2020, while the number of such days was five in 2021 and 2023, and two in 2022.
Dec 2024 witnessed three consecutive moderate days from Dec 4 to 6 and two more such days on Dec 9 and Dec 11 due to the favourable meteorological conditions. Strong winds on these days aided the dispersion of pollutants. The lowest AQI in Dec so far was recorded on Dec 5 at 165.
“Lowest average AQI of 234 for the Dec (till 14) has also been recorded in current year 2024 since 2018 , when the AQI has generally been in the range of 300-400,” said CAQM.
However, the improvement in air quality is likely short-term as AQI is predicted to worsen from Sunday. The air quality is predicted to turn poor on Sunday. The air quality is likely to be in the ‘Very Poor’ category on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS), which is the forecasting body under the Union ministry of earth sciences. The EWS said the air quality is likely to be in the ‘Very Poor’ to ‘Poor’ category in the subsequent six days from Dec 17 onwards.
Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 8 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, on Saturday at Safdarjung, which is the city’s base station. It was one degree lower than Friday’s minimum temperature.
The maximum temperature, however, stood at 23.4 degrees Celsius, which is near normal around this time of the year.
India Meteorological Department has predicted that the minimum temperature is likely to hover around 6-7 degrees Celsius over the next seven days. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 22-23 degrees Celsius over the next few days.
