Delhi’s air quality is expected to deteriorate to the ‘poor’ category on October 27 and 28 as weak winds and low ventilation limit the dispersion of pollutants, even as the city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the month at 16.2 degrees Celsius on Monday.
The city’s 24-hour Air Quality Index stood at 174, in the ‘moderate’ category, compared with 153 the previous day. The Central Pollution Control Board classifies AQI readings between 101 and 200 as moderate and those between 201 and 300 as poor.
Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 31.4 degrees Celsius, which was 0.4 degrees below normal. Of the city’s 57 air-quality monitoring stations, 18 reported poor air quality, one station at Ghogha recorded satisfactory air quality, and the remaining stations reported moderate conditions.
The highest AQI reading was recorded at CRRI Mathura Road, where the index reached 248, placing the location in the poor category. The station-level variation shows that pollution conditions are already uneven across the capital, with some corridors experiencing substantially worse air than the citywide average.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the ventilation index is expected to remain below 6,000 square metres per second, while average wind speeds are likely to stay below 10 kmph. These conditions are unfavourable for the movement and dilution of pollutants. The system expects air quality to improve to moderate on October 29, although its outlook for the following six days remains in the moderate-to-poor range.
Transport was the largest identified contributor to Delhi’s pollution, accounting for 23.8 per cent according to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi. Residential sources contributed 6 per cent, industries 4.9 per cent and construction activities 3.3 per cent. Energy and waste burning contributed 2.2 per cent each, while road dust and other sectors accounted for 1.6 per cent each.
The near-term forecast will be monitored through Delhi’s air-quality warning system, with station readings and dispersion conditions expected to determine how pollution levels develop across the city.
