Delhi’s ‘very poor’ air run continues, set to turn ‘severe’ on Saturday

Calm conditions or low wind speeds that make dispersion of pollutants difficult are likely to continue over the next three days as well, going by the forecast. On Friday, calm conditions are set to prevail in the morning, with a wind speed of 4 kmph during the day, and similar conditions are expected over the weekend, with a wind speed of 4 to 6 kmph. An average wind speed of less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants, according to the early warning system.

Meanwhile, the air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ (301 to 400) category in other parts of the NCR as well, including Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad.

With a dip in the number of farm fires, the contribution of stubble burning to PM 2.5 levels has been low this week. While Punjab recorded 205 farm fires on Thursday, down from 1,271 a week ago on November 16, the contribution of stubble burning to PM 2.5 levels in Delhi has remained below 10% from November 16 onwards. This contribution was around 8.09% on Wednesday, marginally less than 9.65% recorded on Tuesday, according to data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Decision Support System. The contribution of stubble burning to PM 2.5 in Delhi peaked at 35.43% on November 3.

Meanwhile, with a western disturbance expected to affect northwest India from the night of November 25 onwards, light rainfall or thundershowers are on the India Meteorological Department’s forecast for Delhi on November 27. A single day of rainfall earlier this month had brought Delhi some respite from pollution levels.

The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 9.2 degrees Celsius early Thursday, the lowest for the season so far, and two degrees below the normal for this time of the year. The minimum temperature is likely to range from 9 to 13 degrees Celsius over the next six days.

From the homepage

Nitish Kumar Cabinet Portfolio 2025: Samrat Choudhary given Bihar Home Ministry, CM keeps general administration

Prashant Kishor’s promise to ensure Jan Suraaj doesn’t run out of money: ‘Will donate my…’

Govt enforces four labour codes, rules expected in a week