Hours before the Bangladesh-India T20I match, the pollution levels in Delhi and its satellite towns shot up again on Sunday morning with the air quality bordering the 'severe plus' category at several places. A slight increase in the wind speed and a light drizzle on Saturday had led a drop in pollution levels with the air quality index settling at 399 in the evening.
However, weather experts said pollution levels shot up overnight due to calm winds leading to accumulation of pollutants. At 11 a.m local time, Delhi's AQI read 483. The match between Bangladesh and India will start at 7pm local time and if the pollution-induced continues, it may affect visibility and make it difficult for players to sight the ball at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
On Friday, the city recorded the 24-hour AQI average of 484, which prompted authorities to shut schools, ban all construction activities and declare a "public health emergency." Friday's was the worst since November 9, 2017 when it was 486 Among Delhi’s satellite towns, Noida (487), Ghaziabad (483) and Greater Noida (470), Gurgaon (457), breathed extremely polluted air.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'. Above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category NASA satellite imagery showed vast swathes of the northern plains, covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal, blanketed under a smoky haze.
Delhi is pinning hopes on meteorological relief with the weatherman saying winds gusting up to 20-25 kilometers per hour are likely to prevail in the region from Sunday evening to Tuesday Scattered rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi is likely on November 7 and 8 under the influence of Cyclone Maha and a fresh western disturbance.
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