“Very poor” quality air reigned in Delhi on the second day of “odd-even”, even as authorities released conflicting reports on the impact of the vehicular restrictions on January 1 primarily due to different comparative parameters. In a statement, the government said particulate matters less than 2.5 microns in size, PM 2.5, measured in 24 locations in the city ranged between 121 to 226 micrograms per cubic metre, lower than the 250 recorded the same day in previous years. It was at 100 units on December 31 by the same time.
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Although the typical worth of suspended particulate matter PM 2.5 rose to round 198 micrograms per cubic metre, a rise as compared to yesterday, a fall could possibly be noticed between 8 AM when the odd-even scheme kicked in and 2 PM, SAFAR’s Project Director Gufran Beig stated. The PM 10 and PM 2.5 recorded around 1730 hours recorded 147 and 34 units respectively.
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The National Air Quality Index also reflected slightly less pollution on Saturday, with three monitoring stations showing “severe” warnings. Officials of the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) had said on Thursday that air quality in Delhi was expected to deteriorate over the next few days with a fall in minimum temperature and calm wind movement.
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Metro authorities have also chose to run 70 extra trips. “Two days trials show that people of Delhi are ready for it”, he said. Doctors often have to attend to emergencies and can not wait for odd and even numbered cars to take them.
“In comparison to previous day (31st December 2015), the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 increased by 2-39 per cent and 10-50 per cent respectively at all locations, except at Mandir Marg which showed a small decrease”, it said.
Experts also said that the high pollution levels on Saturday morning can be attributed to foggy conditions witnessed in the capital. For instance, on 1 November, 2015, Anand Vihar’s PM 10 reading from 8-9 pm was 676 ìg/m3.
An “overwhelmed” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the radical initiative of the AAP government has received widespread acceptance among the people and that Delhi would “show the way” to the rest of the country.
To augment public transport as part of efforts to ensure the success of the odd-even plan, an additional 3,000 buses have been deployed in the city while Delhi Metro is running an additional 70 trips. Authorities said 150 cars were challaned for driving even-numbered cars today when odd-numbered cars were allowed on the roads apart from those exempt. Of the 90 lakh vehicles registered in the city, some 60 lakh are two-wheelers.
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“What did not favour more smog on Saturday was the fact that humidity has been less by 5 to 10 per cent on Saturday compared to Friday”, he said.
