India, Oct. 9 -- Delhi's air pollution forecasting system underpredicts PM2.5 levels in the national Capital by 30 to 35 per cent due to outdated emission inventories. Mohammad Rafiuddin, programme lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), said the city's Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) continues to show "around 30 to 35 per cent error" in predicting fine particulate matter concentrations.
"If the actual PM2.5 level is 100 micrograms per cubic metre, the system reports it as around 65 micrograms per cubic metre. So, it is underpredicting PM2.5 levels," he said.
"One of the key reasons is that the system relies on old emission inventories. At the national level, the emissions inventory has not been updated since...