AQI severe for third day, as forecast misses mark again

Times of India
Written By Zainab Ashraf

The article reports that the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the 'severe' category for the third consecutive day, recording an average of 404.

Crucially, this marks the third day in a row that the Centre's Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) missed its forecast, having predicted the air quality would be 'very poor' instead of 'severe'.

This consistently high pollution level, which peaked at a season-high of 428 on Tuesday, has prompted the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to invoke Stage-3 measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for the first time this season.

The report also notes that experts are calling for a detailed review of the forecasting model, as they suggest the EWS and its Decision Support System (DSS) may be relying on an older emissions inventory, leading to inaccurate final predictions.

Read the full report from the attached newspaper clipping:

Zainab Ashraf
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