Warmer October and Strong Winds Prevent Delhi’s Air Quality from Dropping to ‘Severe’ Post-Diwali

Warmer October and Strong Winds Prevent Delhi’s Air Quality: Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) went up slightly on November 1, a day after Diwali. Though the air quality does deteriorate during the festival, the increase was not as bad as in previous years.

According to CPCB data, the 24-hour average AQI on Friday was 339, just 11 points from Thursday’s 328. Both were in the ‘very poor’ category which is 301-400. But this year’s post Diwali air quality is the lowest since 2015, except last year’s.

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Though the readings on the day before Diwali were worse than the last two years, they were still better than 2021 when the AQI had shot up to 462 on the day after the festival.

Several factors contributed to the better post Diwali air quality this year. Warm October and strong winds were the key. IMD reported that October 2024 was the warmest in 73 years with temperatures much higher than previous years. Unlike last year’s Diwali on November 13 when the temperature dropped to a monthly minimum of 13 degrees Celsius.

Strong winds throughout the festival period also helped in dispersing pollutants and preventing AQI levels to rise further. Though firecrackers were banned, they were still used in many parts of the city including Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Chhatarpur, Jaunapur, East of Kailash, Saket, Rohini, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh, Vikas Puri, Dilshad Garden and Burari which contributed to the overall pollution.

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On Diwali night (Thursday) the AQI shot up to 999 in some areas - a severe air quality crisis. A CPCB report said that while PM2.5 levels were 4% down from last year, PM10 levels were 11% up.

A LocalCircles survey revealed the health impact of the pollution. Among 21,000 respondents from Delhi and NCR, 69% said at least one member in every family suffered from respiratory issues like sore throat and coughs, 62% from eye irritation due to poor air quality and 23% from headaches and difficulty in concentrating.

The survey also showed a change in residents’ attitude towards pollution management. Only 23% said they would use air purifiers to tackle air quality issues and 23% were resigned to living with pollution.

15% said they will just live with it and carry on with their daily life by wearing a mask when outdoors, eating immunity boosting food or drinks or travel during these months.

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