The air quality in delhi continued to remain ‘severe’ on tuesday as bursting crackers on diwali night reversed the recent rain relief. The pollution levels saw a jump on monday when smoky haze returned after residents flouted ban on fireworks. The air Quality Index (AQI) was registered at 417 in rk Puram on november 14, ITO recorded AQI of 430, Janakpuri was at 428 and punjabi Bagh at 410.
Meanwhile, delhi recorded the coldest night of the season with the minimum temperature dropping to 11.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. The weather recorded at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, was two degrees below normal. According to a report, the last time the national capital recorded a higher minimum temperature than Monday’s was on november 6 at 13.5 degrees Celsius. The report quoted india Meteorological Department officials as saying that the mercury is likely to fall further for the next few days as winter conditions may start setting in.
“Overall the city may witness a slight dip in night temperature. If there is sunlight, the nights may record a marginal rise in minimum temperature,” kuldeep Srivastava, scientist and head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, IMD, was quoted. Srivastava, however, added that the minimum temperature is likely to witness a significant drop from the last week of November. delhi environment minister Gopal Rai on tuesday said that AQI level has increased today as compared to yesterday. “We are focusing on water sprinkling; odd-even and artificial rain are emergency measures. If AQI goes to severe plus category/ 450+ then we will think about it,” he added.
“Stubble was burnt more in Uttar Pradesh than punjab but bjp kept defending itself yesterday. It was the saffron party that instigated cracker-burning. Three state police are under BJP. Who has failed,” Rai further said. The environment minister said that there are three factors in present pollution: “Parali (stubble burning), pataka (firecracker bursting) and non-compliance of GRAP in NCR states”.
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