Delhi air quality remains in 'very poor' category; likely to remain same for next two days

The national capital's overall air quality index (AQI) at 8:30 am was at 331.

"The AQI on Tuesday indicates a very poor category and unlikely to improve tomorrow as winds at transport level are increasing resulting in more intrusion of farm fires related pollutants into Delhi," said the agency.

The agency said the calm local winds also reduce dispersion of pollutants. So the air quality is expected to remain in the higher end of the very poor category tomorrow.

The effective farm fire count is 3125 and its contribution to Delhi’s PM2.5 today is 10%.

"On 18th also winds are expected to be blowing from the east direction which will prevent intrusion of fire related pollutants into Delhi. Surface winds are slowing down further on 17th and 18th reducing dispersion. Over all the AQI is expected to be in the very poor category range for the next 3 days" it said.

The AQI in Delhi University's North Campus area was at 356, while the Mathura road recorded an AQI of 349. Pusa road saw an AQI of 319 and IIT Delhi of 319.

At 9 in the morning, the concentrations of the particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 10 and 2.5 microns stood at 285 (‘poor’ category) and 160 (‘very poor’ category) respectively, the SAFAR stated.

On Monday, the supreme court directed the centre to call an emergency meeting of states and other authorities on Tuesday to chalk out immediate steps to reduce the toxic smog and said it would hear the matter again the next day.

The court also pulled up the Delhi government for "passing the buck", and asked to take urgent measures rather than long-term goals, the Supreme Court said the capital's air pollution was a "crisis".

In a significant disclosure, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that farm waste burning accounted for just 10 percent of the emissions on average through the year.

In an affidavit filed before the hearing, the Delhi government told the court that it was ready to take steps like a complete lockdown to fight air pollution though it will have a limited effect.

Meanwhile, the Congress has demanded a "white paper" from both the Centre and the Delhi government on the steps taken by them to tackle pollution in the national capital and said they should be held accountable for playing with the health of people.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill accused both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of indulging in a blame game and wasting the taxpayers' money on advertisements.