Pollution breaks season's records

Pollution in the national capital broke the season’s record on Wednesday with the scientists warning that the situation is likely to worsen in the coming days. Sunday, however, may see some respite.

After hitting an all time low on November 16, the pollution level in Delhi, already the world’s most polluted city, touched ‘very poor’ category in most places and some areas even came under the ‘severe’ category.

The Particulate Matter (PM) 10 and PM 2.5 levels on Wednesday were 328.9 and 234.4 micrograms per cubic metre and came close to the levels recorded on Diwali day (PM 2.5, 258). Levels of PM 2.5, the finest pollutant capable of making inroads into human lung and blood tissues and increasing the risk of heart and lung diseases, was in fact on a decreasing trend after Diwali and hit an all time low of this session on November 17 (PM 2.5 129). However, the situation worsened later owing to increasing moisture in the air.

“From November 17, a sudden drop in temperature was recorded and wind became calm which resulted in a lot of moisture in the air, making it heavy. The pollution level suddenly shot up, leading to the worst PM levels on Wednesday,” said Gufran Beig, project director at System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) under the Ministry of earth sciences.

It will continue to remain the same and is likely to peak in the next few days, resulting in haze formation.

The air quality is likely to improve “significantly” only on Sunday. Till then it will remain more or less in the same range, said Beig, warning, slight fluctuation in weather will make a huge difference in any direction. Levels of PM 2.5 on Tuesday touched 229 microgram per cubic metre, much higher than 145 microgram on the same day last year.