Post-Diwali pollution levels down with fewer stubble-burning

New Delhi: Delhi woke to a much cleaner air on Friday compared to the next day of Diwali last year on account of lower number of stubble fire incidents in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

The national capital's AQI was recorded in the 'very poor' category with a reading of 362 at 9 am on Friday.

Last year, several areas across the national capital recorded AQI of more than 500 which is termed hazardous.

The concentration of fine, lung-damaging particulate matters PM2.5 and PM10 dropped by 30 percent and 12 percent respectively on Diwali compared to last year, according to an analysis by the NewsDrum.

The PM10 levels in Delhi's R K Puram area was recorded at 321 micrograms at 8 am on Friday. The 24-hour average stood at 378.

For comparison, last year Delhi’s 24-hour average PM10 concentration on Diwali stood at 430 micrograms per cubic meter. It was 322 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and 748 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021, the DPCC report showed.

The city recorded a 24-hour average PM2.5 concentration of 234 micrograms per cubic meter, compared to 314 micrograms per cubic meter last year, 217 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022 and 607 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021.

The drop in pollution levels is attributed to the reduced incidents of farm fires in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana in comparison to previous four years.

The stubble burning saw a significant drop this year in Punjab with 2,466 farm fire incidents recorded till October 30, 2024, compared to 6,284 in 2023, 13,874 in 2022, 10,374 in 2021 and 29,712 in 2020.

Haryana also witnessed huge decline in farm fire incidents. The neighbouring state recorded 742 stubble burning incidents till October 30.