New Delhi: Delhi's air quality remained "poor" for the second consecutive day on Monday and no improvement is likely in the next six days, forecasting agencies said here.
Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 237 at 4 pm, worsening from 232 at 4 pm on Sunday. It was 247 in Ghaziabad, 286 in Faridabad, 254 in Greater Noida, 232 in Gurugram and 254 in Noida.
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'. According to the Decision Support System of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), the transport sector accounted for 19 per cent of PM2.5 pollution in Delhi on Monday.
The Early Warning System of the IITM said the air quality was likely to "remain largely in the poor category" over the next six days.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) predicted a peak wind speed of 12 km per hour over the next three days which will lead to only moderate dispersion of pollutants.
Data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute showed a spike in the incidents of stubble burning in Punjab.
The agrarian state reported 169 farm fires on Saturday, 206 on Sunday and 403 on Monday.
According to experts, the delay in paddy harvesting due to two prolonged spells of rains — in late September and October — could lead to a spike in stubble burning incidents as farmers would be in a race against time to prepare their fields for the next crop.
Along with unfavourable meteorological conditions, paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and potato.