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Delhi's air slips back to moderate, AQI 185 on Saturday morning after three poor days
The CPCB reading at 9 am ended a run of 'poor' days, though Narela, Jahangirpuri and RK Puram had come close to 300 overnight. Satellites have counted 545 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana this month.
Key points
- Delhi's air quality index stood at 185 at 9 am on Saturday, in the moderate band, down from 230 on Friday.
- Overnight, Narela touched 292 and Jahangirpuri 282, and 24 stations were still in the poor range at 6 am.
- NASA satellites have picked up 545 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana since 1 October, far fewer than last year.
Delhi woke up to slightly cleaner air on Saturday. The city’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 185 at 9 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), placing it in the “moderate” category after three days in the “poor” range.
On Friday the 24-hour average at 4 pm was 230, and on Thursday it was 223. The improvement came gradually through the night: the hourly reading was 201 at 4 am and 197 at 5 am, and it kept falling after that.
Wednesday, 21 October, had been the season’s first “poor” day, at 245.
Pockets near 300
The citywide figure hid much worse air in parts of the capital overnight. At 2 am, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Air Quality Early Warning System recorded 292 at Narela, 282 at Jahangirpuri, 279 at RK Puram, 269 at Alipur and 263 at Rohini, all close to the “very poor” threshold of 301.
Even at 6 am, 24 of the 58 monitoring stations reporting data were still in the poor range, while the rest were moderate. Fine particles, PM2.5, were the main pollutant at 39 stations and the coarser PM10 at 18.
Taken over a week, this October has been kinder than most. The seven-day average up to 23 October was 195, the third-lowest for that period in any year since 2015.
Fewer fires seen from space
NASA satellite data shows 545 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana between 1 and 23 October: 473 in Punjab and 72 in Haryana. On 23 October alone, satellites picked up 50 fires, against 708 on the same date last year.
The lower numbers come with a caveat. The satellite passes over the region at about 1:30 pm, and much of the burning takes place later in the day, so the count can miss fires and does not necessarily mean less stubble is being burnt.
Cooler nights, warm days
Nights are turning cooler. Safdarjung, the city’s representative weather station, recorded a minimum of 18.3°C in the 24 hours to 8:30 am, 1.1 degrees above normal and 0.7 degrees lower than the previous night. Ayanagar was the coldest at 17°C, with Palam and Lodhi Road both at 17.6°C and the Ridge at 18.4°C. None of the stations recorded rain.
The India Meteorological Department expects a maximum of 32 to 34°C on Saturday under partly cloudy skies, with Sunday’s high around 33°C and night temperatures between 17 and 19°C through the coming week.
What to expect
There is no widespread rain in the forecast to wash the air clean, and the AQI can change through the day with wind speed and atmospheric conditions. The CPCB’s daily bulletin at 4 pm will show whether the moderate reading held.