<p>Delhi's air quality fell to a 'severe' level for the first time this season. The impact of local emissions combined with a mix of factors, including low wind speed and smoke from burning stubble have contributed to the worsening air quality. </p><p>On November 2, the air quality declined as it reached 402 at 5 pm from an average of 351, at 10 am. It worsened even further to 418 by 9 pm.</p><p>The city skies had a sepia tint due to airborne pollutants, making visibility difficult throughout the day.</p><p>Parts of the NCR also recorded AQI in the ‘severe’ category, the AQI in Greater Noida was 414, while it was 415 in Jind, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/smoke-dust-and-a-dash-of-fumes-as-aqi-hits-severe-here-is-whats-in-delhis-air-9011206/" rel="nofollow">reported </a><em>Indian Express.</em></p>.Elaborate arrangements made to deal with emergencies during Diwali: Delhi Fire Service.<p>The Central Pollution Control Board declared PM 2.5 to be the primary pollutant in Delhi. According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's Decision Support System, the percentage of biomass burning that contributed to Delhi's PM 2.5 levels on Wednesday increased from 7.175 per cent on Tuesday to 18.31 per cent. Based on the the projection, the contribution on Friday it's probably going to be about 21.32 per cent, and on Saturday it might be about 15.115 per cent. </p><p>“The contribution of stubble burning is high, with a high fire count. Weather conditions have also become favourable for accumulation of pollutants. Low visibility is on account of intrusion of particles. Winds are calm even at a height of half a kilometre from the ground, and that is resulting in the suspension of particles and low visibility… From around this time of the year, wind direction changes and becomes north-northwest. The temperature is not that low, but major factors now are transport level wind direction and speed that is bringing pollutants into Delhi - stubble-related emissions travel at half a km to one km above the surface,” said Gufran Beig, founder project director SAFAR, and chair professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies.</p><p>Punjab saw 1,921 instances of crop residue burning on Wednesday — the fourth day in a row that the count was over 1,000 — the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre said.</p><p>Talking about the fog formed in the national capital, Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said “Since fog is formed when water vapour condenses and relative humidity was high in the morning hours, shallow fog may have formed. But humidity levels had fallen to around 55 per cent in the afternoon. Calm conditions are prevailing.”</p>
<p>Delhi's air quality fell to a 'severe' level for the first time this season. The impact of local emissions combined with a mix of factors, including low wind speed and smoke from burning stubble have contributed to the worsening air quality. </p><p>On November 2, the air quality declined as it reached 402 at 5 pm from an average of 351, at 10 am. It worsened even further to 418 by 9 pm.</p><p>The city skies had a sepia tint due to airborne pollutants, making visibility difficult throughout the day.</p><p>Parts of the NCR also recorded AQI in the ‘severe’ category, the AQI in Greater Noida was 414, while it was 415 in Jind, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/smoke-dust-and-a-dash-of-fumes-as-aqi-hits-severe-here-is-whats-in-delhis-air-9011206/" rel="nofollow">reported </a><em>Indian Express.</em></p>.Elaborate arrangements made to deal with emergencies during Diwali: Delhi Fire Service.<p>The Central Pollution Control Board declared PM 2.5 to be the primary pollutant in Delhi. According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology's Decision Support System, the percentage of biomass burning that contributed to Delhi's PM 2.5 levels on Wednesday increased from 7.175 per cent on Tuesday to 18.31 per cent. Based on the the projection, the contribution on Friday it's probably going to be about 21.32 per cent, and on Saturday it might be about 15.115 per cent. </p><p>“The contribution of stubble burning is high, with a high fire count. Weather conditions have also become favourable for accumulation of pollutants. Low visibility is on account of intrusion of particles. Winds are calm even at a height of half a kilometre from the ground, and that is resulting in the suspension of particles and low visibility… From around this time of the year, wind direction changes and becomes north-northwest. The temperature is not that low, but major factors now are transport level wind direction and speed that is bringing pollutants into Delhi - stubble-related emissions travel at half a km to one km above the surface,” said Gufran Beig, founder project director SAFAR, and chair professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies.</p><p>Punjab saw 1,921 instances of crop residue burning on Wednesday — the fourth day in a row that the count was over 1,000 — the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre said.</p><p>Talking about the fog formed in the national capital, Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said “Since fog is formed when water vapour condenses and relative humidity was high in the morning hours, shallow fog may have formed. But humidity levels had fallen to around 55 per cent in the afternoon. Calm conditions are prevailing.”</p>
