Delhi air quality could deteriorate to ‘severe’ on Nov 5

The air quality in Delhi is set to deteriorate and reach the “upper end” of the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday, going by a morning bulletin issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.

On November 5, the air quality will remain in the ‘very poor’ category, but could deteriorate to ‘severe’ if there are firecracker emissions on Diwali day, the forecast said.

The AQI has remained in the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category for the past two days. AQI from 301 to 400 is considered ‘very poor.’

The wind direction on Thursday could be from variable directions, while the direction on Friday is likely to be from the northwest of Delhi, and this could increase the contribution of crop residue burning to PM2.5 levels in the city. Low wind speed has been making the dispersion of pollutants difficult so far, but strong winds are predicted on November 6.