(Image source from: news18.com)

New Delhi has been experiencing a dip in its air quality for a long time now. Officials say it all started due to the farm fires from Haryana and Punjab.

After the Central Pollution Control Board checked the air quality, they said on Tuesday the air quality index was 242 and it became 301 on Wednesday. The US embassy’s monitoring system stated the air quality as “very unhealthy”.

The reasons for a dip in Delhi’s air quality is the stubble burning in Punjab, Dusshera smoke and the change in weather conditions. Delhi’s air quality started getting worse from October.

As per research made by the Air quality and weather forecasting ministry in October, it was the stubble intrusion that started to deteriorate the air’s quality.

Points to know

1.The Air Quality Index should always be less than 200. Anything between 201-300 is “poor”, 301-400 is “very poor” and “401-500” is severe.

2.Fumes from farm fires in Delhi’s air is 8% and forecasted to rise to 18% by Saturday.

3.PM 2.5 is the main pollutant or minute particle that is quite harmful.

4.The CPCB said that Ghaziabad was the most polluted on Wednesday.

5.Noida and Greater Noida are in the “very poor” category after being monitored on the air quality.

6.SAFAR said calm surface winds in Delhi are likely to prevent dispersion of pollutants and the fire count has increased significantly (around 1,000) as compared to last week.

By Neha Makhija