Overnight rain in Delhi brings relief from hazardous air quality
The Hindu
Delhi's air quality improved Fri. morn. due to overnight rain. AQI at 7 a.m. was 408, down from 437 at 4 p.m. Thurs. Wind direction change, light rain & stubble burning in neighbouring states contribute to pollution. Govt. plans artificial rain & has rescheduled school winter break. Odd-even car-rationing scheme to be implemented post SC review. Prolonged exposure to high levels of pollution can cause respiratory & cardiovascular diseases. Stringent restrictions under GRAP implemented. Air quality in Delhi-NCR peaks Nov. 1-15 due to stubble burning. Air pollution shortening lives by 12 yrs.
Overnight rain led to a visible improvement in Delhi's air quality on Friday morning after more than a week of hazardous pollution.
The improvement is expected to be reflected in the air quality index as the day progresses — the AQI at any given time is the average of readings taken in the last 24 hours.
At 7 a.m., Delhi's AQI stood at 408, improving from 437 at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier predicted a marginal improvement in air quality just ahead of Diwali owing to favourable meteorological conditions, including light rain.
IMD officials had also said a change in the wind direction from northwest to southeast due to a fresh western disturbance affecting northwest India will help reduce the contribution of smoke from stubble burning.
Once the western disturbance passes, the wind speed will increase from around five to six kilometres per hour at present to around 15 kilometres per hour on November 11, which will help disperse pollutants ahead of Diwali (November 12), an IMD official said.
According to data from the Decision Support System, a numerical model-based framework capable of identifying the sources of particulate matter pollution in Delhi, stubble burning in the neighbouring states, particularly Punjab and Haryana, accounted for 38% of the air pollution in Delhi on Wednesday. It was 33% on Thursday and is likely to be 16% on Friday.
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