GURUGRAM: It was routine as usual. At 362, the city’s air quality turned ‘very poor’ on Thursday, deteriorating 48% from the day before, as winds that had earlier cleared away pollutants slowed down to just 3km per hour, allowing smog to persist. This was the second time this month that the city’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) fell to ‘very poor’. The last was on the day of Diwali, October 24. Meteorologists had forecast that the post-Diwali reprieve from highly polluted skies, an effect of westerly winds up to speeds of 10kmph, was about to come to an end. Wednesday’s AQI was 244, in the ‘poor’ category. Officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) admitted that meteorological conditions such as lower temperatures and low wind speed permitted pollutants to linger over NCR. “Wind speed is weak today and it will continue for the next three days, causing weak dispersion of pollutants,” said Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB-Gurugram. Data showed that PM2.5 was at an average of 361ug/m3 in Gurugram on Thursday, a jump of 33% from 270ug/m3 on Wednesday. Authorities consider 60ug/m3 as the upper limit for safe levels of PM2.5 in India. On Thursday, the average AQI at Vikas Sadan (362), Teri Gram (349) and Sector-51 (374) stations in the city was in the ‘very poor’ category. The reading at Gwal Pahari station was not available. Satellite imagery has also indicated that the number of farm fires in Haryana was increasing by the day as farmers rush to clear their fields for sowing of the next crop. So far, 1,495 active fire locations (AFLs) have been recorded between September 15 and October 26 this year – inching towards the 2,010 incidents of stubble burning witnessed in the same period last year. Emissions from stubble burning are key contributors to the toxic smog that engulfs Delhi-NCR every year during the winter season. HSPCB officials also said that measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for NCR were already in place in Gurugram.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/gurugram-winds-down-to-hazy-shades-of-winter/articleshow/95133120.cms