Air quality still in 'very poor' zone, stubble burning share rises to 26%

New Delhi: Delhi's air quality was in the 'very poor' category on Sunday and deteriorated to the 'severe' category in some areas, with forecasters saying that slow wind speed and an increase in stubble burning, especially in Punjab, may make it worse. The share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution rose to 26 percent on Sunday, the highest this year.

Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 367 at 9 am and it improved to 352 at 4 pm.

The 24-hour average AQI on Saturday was 397, the worst since January. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).

On Sunday, Anand Vihar (AQI 449) was the most polluted place in the capital, followed by Vivek Vihar (402). Environment Minister Gopal Rai said Anand Vihar and Vivek Vihar have been reporting high pollution levels continuously which could be due to construction work related to Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

"Therefore, we have directed the user agency to strictly follow the dust pollution control norms. The government has deployed 15 anti-smog guns in those areas in addition

to seven water sprinklers of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi," he said.

"Diesel-run buses have an important role in high pollution levels at the Delhi-UP

border. We request the UP government to run CNG buses in the NCR districts at least. This will help bring down air pollution," the minister said.

Stubble burning accounted for 26 percent of the PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on Sunday and forecasters said it is likely to rise in the coming days.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reported 1,761 farm fires in Punjab on Sunday, 1,898 on Saturday, 2,067 — the highest so far this season — on Friday and 1,111 on Thursday. It logged 112 and 43 cases of stubble burning in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, on Sunday.

The Commission for Air Quality Management had on Thursday said the increased incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year "is a matter of serious concern".

According to satellite remote sensing data, up to October 24, only about 39 per cent of the sown area in Punjab had been harvested and thus the rising number of fire events was an alarming situation, it said.

With pollution levels worsening, the Centre's air quality panel on Saturday directed authorities to impose a ban on construction and demolition activities in Delhi-NCR, except in essential projects, and other curbs under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan.

The Delhi Fire Services on Sunday said it has begun sprinkling water at 13 hotspots to combat rising air pollution in the city. Officials said a fire tender with a four-member crew has been deployed at each spot to sprinkle water to curb pollution. The 13 identified pollution hotspots include Narela, Anand Vihar, Mundka, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh, R K Puram, Bawana, Rohini Sector-16, Okhla, Jahangirpuri, Wazirpur and Mayapuri, officials said.

Meanwhile, the AQI levels in both Noida and Greater Noida have been above 400 and are expected to rise in next

two to three days. More than a thousand small and large construction sites have been put to a halt. "More than 30 under construction builder's projects, over 20 group housing projects and other medium and large scale industries have stopped construction work following the orders", said officials.