Stubble burning share in Delhi's air pollution may go up to 38% after Diwali: SAFAR

The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution is predicted to increase to 38 per cent by November 6 – two days after Diwali, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR.

The contribution of farm fires in Delhi's air pollution has remained low this season so far due to the record-breaking rainfall in October and favourable wind direction.

However, it is likely to increase up to 38 per cent by November 6 as the wind direction is expected to change to northwesterly after Diwali, said Gufran Beig, the founder project director of SAFAR.

Northwesterly winds carry smoke from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana towards the national capital.

Last year, the share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution had peaked to 42 per cent on November 5.

In 2019, crop residue burning accounted for 44 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution on November 1.

The air quality in the national capital entered the “very poor” category for the first time this season on Tuesday owing to unfavourable conditions for dispersion of pollutants, authorities said.

Stubble burning accounted for six per cent of the PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on Tuesday. The rest of the pollution is due to local sources, Beig said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the capital recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 303. It was 281 on Monday, 289 on Sunday and 268 on Saturday.

The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (306), Ghaziabad (334) and Noida (303) also recorded very poor air quality.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".