A day after most of Delhi-NCR woke up to a thick haze following a dust surge, the particulate matter pollution in the Capital continued to remain above permissible levels on Friday. The average air quality index (AQI) in the Capital was 272 in the 'Poor' category as of 2 pm, as per the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. Strong winds carried dust from Pakistan towards Northwest India to Delhi-NCR on Thursday night, leading to plunging visibility at multiple locations. Data from the DPCC has shown a fluctuating trend with the pollution levels seeing a sharp drop in the early hours from 2 am to 8 am on Friday in most stations including Bawana, but only to later rise sharply. On Thursday, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recorded a daily average AQI of 292, in the 'Poor' category. A day earlier, it was 135 in the ‘Moderate’ category. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), in its air quality forecast, said the air quality will be 'Poor' on Friday and Saturday, whereas it will improve to 'Moderate' from Sunday. Although pollution levels dipped slightly around midday on Thursday, they picked up again as the wind calmed down in the early hours of Friday, according to air pollution data from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). Wazirpur was the worst-affected area, recording the highest PM10 pollution with values near 847 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) early on Friday morning — more than eight times the safe limit of 100 µg PM2.5 levels in the area also stayed high at 248 µg/m³, far above the safe limit of 60 µg Other areas, including Rohini, Anand Vihar, and Pooth Khurd-Bawana, reported PM10 levels ranging from 200 to over 500 µg/m³, indicating widespread pollution across the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said strong winds of 30-40 km per hour on Thursday night carried dust into Delhi’s air, causing visibility to fall from 4,500 metres to about 1,200 metres in 90 minutes. Officials, however, clarified that the phenomenon did not qualify as a dust storm. According to IMD’s forecast classification, a “light” dust storm requires wind gusts up to 40 kmph and visibility below 1,000 m. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Thursday noted that this sharp rise in particulate pollution was an episodic event caused by dust traveling long distances. The agency said it expected the air quality to improve, adding that it would closely review the situation.
