Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘moderate’ category on Monday, but weak winds and low ventilation are expected to push pollution levels into the ‘poor’ range on October 27 and 28, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
The city recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 174, higher than the previous day’s 153. The Central Pollution Control Board classifies AQI levels between 101 and 200 as moderate, while readings between 201 and 300 fall in the poor category.
Delhi’s minimum temperature fell to 16.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest recorded so far this month. The maximum temperature was 31.4 degrees Celsius, which was 0.4 degrees below normal.
Air quality conditions varied across the city’s monitoring network. Of Delhi’s 57 air quality monitoring stations, 18 recorded poor air quality, one station at Ghogha recorded satisfactory air quality, and the remaining stations reported moderate conditions. The highest AQI reading was 248 at the CRRI Mathura Road monitoring station.
The early warning system 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 considered unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants, allowing emissions to remain concentrated in the city’s air.
The system forecast that Delhi’s air quality would deteriorate to poor on October 27 and 28 before improving to moderate on October 29. Its outlook for the following six days indicated that air quality was likely to remain between moderate and poor.
The pollution profile also points to the importance of transport emissions in Delhi’s urban air-quality challenge. According to the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi, transport accounted for 23.8 per cent of the city’s pollution contribution, the highest among the listed sources.
Residential sources contributed 6 per cent, followed by industries at 4.9 per cent and construction activities at 3.3 per cent. Energy and waste burning each contributed 2.2 per cent, while road dust and other sectors accounted for 1.6 per cent each.
The latest readings show that citywide averages can conceal sharper pollution at individual locations. While Delhi’s overall AQI remained moderate, the CRRI Mathura Road station had already entered the poor category, along with 17 other monitoring stations. The next forecast milestone is the expected deterioration on October 27 and 28, followed by a projected improvement to moderate conditions on October 29.
