Another day of clear sky in Delhi, air quality moderate

New Delhi, Oct 14 (SocialNews.XYZ) India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted 'mainly clear sky' in the national capital on Thursday with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 34 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 19 degrees Celsius.

As per the morning update, a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius was recorded at 8.30 a.m. with a relative humidity of 71 per cent. The wind was blowing in the southern direction at a speed of 5.4 km per hour.

The city observed sunrise at 6.22 a.m. and the sun is likely to set at 5.53 p.m.

In the past 24 hours, the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.9 degrees Celsius, a notch departure from normal, and the minimum was at 19 degrees Celsius.

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was 197 for PM10 and 74 for PM2.5. As PM10 went over 100, the department has issued a 'moderate' health advisory which means that sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion and heavy outdoor work. The PM2.5 level was also under the moderate category.

Notably, Delhi has 36 monitoring stations that accurately record the levels of both particulate matters. As per the latest update at 9.31 a.m., the other pollutants Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) were recorded at 12 and 110, respectively. The data for carbon monoxide (CO) was not available.

With the onset of winter, Delhi's pollution levels start rising, mainly because of the decrease in wind speed over Delhi-NCR and stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a 10-point Winter Action Plan. While presenting the new strategy, Kejriwal had said that separate teams have been formed to keep a check on pollution arising due to waste burning and construction in the national capital.

Source: IANS