As residents of India's capital gasp for fresh air, Delhi's air quality marginally improved on Sunday morning, rising to the 'very poor' category from the 'severe' category. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) has predicted that the air quality is "likely" to improve in the next two days.
The air quality levels of Delhi deteriorated after Diwali, the festival of light, as people across the national capital violated the firecracker ban imposed by the Delhi Government. Meanwhile, the burning of stubble (agricultural waste) in the neighbouring states Punjab and Haryana is seen as a major contributor to Delhi's air pollution annually.
On Sunday, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was measured 386, according to SAFAR. An AQI from 51 to 100 is considered 'satisfactory', 101-200 is 'moderate', 201-300 is 'poor', 300-400 is considered 'very poor', and levels between 401 and 500 are ranked as 'hazardous', as per SAFAR.
Despite the slight improvement, pollution levels in the National Capital Region (NCR), especially Noida and Gurugram, are concerning. As per SAFAR's bulletin on its portal, the AQI is likely to improve in two days "as winds at the transport level (925 mb) are slowing down resulting in a lesser intrusion of farm fires related pollutants into Delhi."
"However, as local winds are becoming calm and minimum temperature is decreasing further, preventing efficient dispersion of pollutants leading to improvement of air quality to the upper end of very poor category or lower end of the severe category," the forecasting agency added.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also predicted that there will be "mainly clear sky and moderate fog in the morning" for Sunday and Monday.
To control the increasing pollution levels and its impact, Delhi's Chief Minister on Saturday announced that the schools will remain closed for a week from Monday. The decision came after a high-level emergency meeting with senior officials and ministers of the Delhi government.