Delhi's air quality worsened on Monday when the levels of particulate matter, or tiny pollutants that trigger health hazards, shot up by up to four times above the permissible mark after a gap of four months.
a. Amritsar
b. Delhi
c. Chandigarh
d. None of the above
- "This is the sixth consecutive day that the air quality has remained in the very poor category," said an official of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
What are the reasons?
- As the burning of crop stubble, considered one of the reasons behind the spike in pollution at this time of the year, continues in Punjab and Haryana, conditions could deteriorate further on Tuesday.
- This warning came from Pune's Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology according to an early warning system run by them called 'Safar', which functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
One must know:
- Delhi's air quality index (AQI) on Monday was 367, which indicates very poor' air quality.
- On a scale of 0-500, AQI in the range of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'.
- Conditions in the satellite towns of Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad were not any better, with the air quality in Ghaziabad breaching the 'severe' level.
- The AQI was 430 in Ghaziabad.
- The official said levels of PM10 and PM2.5, too, shot up alarmingly, hovering around four times the permissible limits.
- Such high levels of particulate matter were last encountered in the second week of June when a huge amount of dust gushed into Delhi-NCR after of a dust storm in Rajasthan.
- PM 2.5 and PM10 pollutants are particulate matters that have a diameter of less than 2.5 and 10 micrometers, respectively.
- Delhi's early warning system, put in place on October 15, has said northwesterly winds have already started blowing.
- Also, the ventilation index, which determines how fast pollutants get dispersed, and wind speeds are expected to remain low over the next two days.
- This might help trap pollutants in the air.
- Safar has forecast toxic fumes from stubble-burning regions of Punjab and Haryana would gush in, worsening the situation.
Question:
Q. Which Indian city's air quality worsened on Monday when the levels of particulate matter, or tiny pollutants that trigger health hazards, shot up by up to four times above the permissible mark after a gap of four months?a. Amritsar
b. Delhi
c. Chandigarh
d. None of the above
