Delhi air quality better as compared to last year — but not by much

Last year, Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) R K Puram air quality monitoring station saw 12 days of severe air pollution compared to 11 this year. The number of days with very poor air quality were 12 as opposed to 14 this year. The Mandir Marg station saw three days of moderate air pollution this year. Last year, there were none.

Data from the DPCC also showed that during the last 10 days of the month, the concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 and 10 was considerably lesser than that during last year.

According to scientists at DPCC, the biggest reason for the drop in pollutant concentration was an increase in wind speed. While the wind speed was around 0.4 metres/second during the day in the first week of November, right after Diwali, it rose to about 1.2 metres/second starting November 8.

But experts say wind speed was not the only reason for the dip in pollution. According to Centre for Science and Environment’s Anumita Roychowdhury, “The government announced measures to improve air quality on November 6 and wind speed also picked up. A couple of days later, however, it dropped again, but pollution did not rise. The restrictions have helped shave off the pollution peaks.”