Delhi's air quality remained in the 'poor' category on Tuesday as the minimum temperature settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius in the national capital. The city recorded a relative humidity of 85 per cent at 8:30 AM, according to data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The minimum temperature on Monday was also recorded at 17.5 degrees Celsius, while the maximum stood at 32.5 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal.
The MeT Office has forecast mainly clear sky later in the day, with the maximum temperature expected to settle around 32 degrees Celsius.
According to the weather office, the air quality in Delhi is unlikely to improve in the next six days.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.
Pusa bio-decomposer to be sprayed in Delhi fields starting Tuesday
Meanwhile, the Delhi government will start spraying Pusa bio-decomposer in agricultural fields to prevent stubble burning in the capital from Tuesday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.
Prepared by scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), the Pusa bio-decomposer is a microbial solution which can turn paddy straw into manure in 15-20 days.
The solution will be sprayed on 5,000 acres of basmati and non-basmati fields in the capital this year.
The Pusa bio-decomposer was used on 4,300 acres of land belonging to 844 farmers in Delhi last year. In 2020, 310 farmers used it on 1,935 acres of land.
The Delhi government has set up 21 teams to create awareness about the effectiveness of bio-decomposer and register farmers who want to use the solution in their fields.
According to officials, spraying of bio-decomposer costs just Rs 30 per acre.
In 2021, a third-party audit conducted to ascertain the impact of the microbial solution in Delhi showed that it was 95 percent effective, following which Kejriwal had requested the Centre to distribute it free in neighbouring states.
Along with unfavourable meteorological conditions, paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and vegetables.
According to the IARI data, Punjab had reported 71,304 farm fires between September 15 and November 30 last year and 83,002 farm fires in the corresponding period in 2020.
Last year, the share of farm fires in Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution peaked to 48 per cent on November 7.
(With inputs from PTI)
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