Chandigarh:Nights get colder...

AQI improves...

On Friday, a sign of relief after the air quality index (AQI) improved further and remained in the ‘moderate’ category with experts predicting that it will turn satisfactory soon.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature plunged from 16.8°C on Thursday to 12°C on Friday, at normal. 

However, clear weather will be short-lived as another western disturbance will affect the region from Saturday. There are chances of light rain in the city on Sunday and Monday. With cloudy weather, air quality can worsen again; however, if it rains, the AQI will improve dramatically.

 Clear weather is likely again from Tuesday onwards. The maximum temperature, meanwhile, rose due to the clear weather, going up from 25.8°C on Thursday to 28°C on Friday.

The air quality index at the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in Sector 53, at 9 pm on Friday, was the highest at 185, followed by CAAQMS Sector 22 with 162 and CAAQMS Sector 25 at 157. AQI between 101 and 200 is considered moderate and can cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease, asthma and heart diseases.

On Wednesday, the city’s AQI was categorised as severe when the average reading at Sector 53 was 404, at Sector 22, it was 360 and at Sector 25, it was 259. AQI between 401 and 500 is considered ‘severe’ and affects healthy people, besides severely impacting those with existing diseases. On Thursday, it had started to improve but was still in the ‘very poor’ category.

According to the statement given by ,Dr Ravindra Khaiwal, environment scientist at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), said, “Air quality in Chandigarh will improve to satisfactory in the next 24 hours as the wind is blowing over 8kph. This will improve the ventilation coefficient, leading to dilution and dispersion of ground-level pollution.”