NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality remained in the “very poor” category on Saturday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting a possibility of slight improvement over the next few days due to rain.The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) settled at 367 on Saturday, placing it in the “very poor” category.The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has also indicated a slight improvement in air quality over the next few days.Particulate matter concentrations in the air, including PM2.5 and PM10, are also expected to decline over the next two days, according to the system.Of the 59 monitoring stations that recorded data on Saturday, 17 reported air quality in the “severe” category, 38 in the “very poor” category, three in the “poor” category and one in the “moderate” category.The city’s average AQI recorded a marginal improvement from 373 on Friday to 367 on Saturday.According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as “good”, 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 as “moderate”, 201 and 300 as “poor”, 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and 401 and 500 as “severe”.PM10 was the predominant pollutant in the national capital on Saturday.The transport sector was the biggest contributor to Delhi’s pollution on Saturday, accounting for 20.5%, according to the Decision Support System (DSS).Stubble burning accounted for 13.3% of the overall pollution.Satellite data recorded 537 incidents of crop residue burning across six states on Saturday. Of these, 214 were reported in Punjab, 11 in Haryana, 33 in Uttar Pradesh, 33 in Rajasthan and 246 in Madhya Pradesh.A total of 11,342 farm-fire incidents were detected across these states between September 15 and November 13.The data was provided in a bulletin by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.(With inputs from PTI)
