Delhi: Air Quality Improves To 'Moderate' Range Amid Sharp Drop In Farm Fires

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 176 on Wednesday morning which was a major improvement from the previous day's AQI of 221.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

The improvement came as a consequence of a very sharp decline in farm fires in its neighbouring state of Punjab, where just 141 farm fires were reported on Tuesday.

Accprding to SAFAR, the share of farm fires in Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution dropped to 3 per cent on Tuesday from 13 per cent on Monday.

The air quality is likely to improve further on the back of strong winds, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said

The city recorded a minimum temperature of 15.4 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 29.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, it said.

According to Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) data, Punjab reported 141 farm fires on Tuesday and just four on Monday. A total of 2,467 incidents of stubble burning were reported in the agrarian state on Saturday.

The share of farm fires in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution dropped to 3 per cent on Tuesday from 13 per cent on Monday, according to SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

In view of the improvement in the air quality, the Commission for Air Quality Management had on Monday directed authorities to revoke the curbs enforced in Delhi-NCR under stage three of the Graded Response Action Plan with immediate effect.

The curbs under stage 3 included a ban on construction and demolition activities, barring essential projects.

(With PTI Inputs)