Stubble Burning Share In Delhi’s Pollution Rises To Season’s Highest Of 36 pc
Mumbai: According to the government air quality forecasting agency SAFAR, stubble burning contributed 36 per cent to Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution on Friday, the highest ever this season.
Gufran Baig, Founder-Project Director of SAFAR, said, “Delhi’s overall air quality has dropped to the upper end of the ‘severe’ category with additional fireworks emissions. The share of stubble emissions has reached 36 per cent today.”
“Local winds have intensified, and rapid dispersal (of pollutants) is now expected. Without any more firecracker emissions, the AQI will reach the ‘very poor’ category by tonight although the stubble contribution is expected to remain almost the same (on Saturday),” he said.
On Thursday, farm fires accounted for 25 per cent of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution.
Last year, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution reached 42 per cent on November 5. In 2019, the burning of crop residues accounted for 44 per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 pollution as of November 1.
The concentration of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution was 32 per cent on Diwali last year, compared to 19 per cent in 2019.
A thick blanket of fog engulfed the Delhi-NCR region on Friday after heavy bursts of firecrackers on Diwali night amid heavy smoke from stubble burning.
Ahead of the festive season, the Delhi government had announced a complete ban on firecrackers by January 1, 2022, and launched an aggressive campaign against the sale and use of firecrackers.
Delhi’s air quality index entered the ‘severe’ zone Thursday night and continued its upward trend to reach 462 at 12 noon on Friday.
The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (460), Greater Noida (423), Ghaziabad (450), Gurgaon (478) and Noida (466) recorded severe air quality at 12 noon.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
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