Delhi breathes clean air in nearly a year as AQI slips to 65

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Delhi, considered among the most polluted cities in the world, is presently enjoying some of its cleanest-air days. Thanks to the monsoon rains.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) value, over the past five days at least, has been ranging between 50 and 100, denoting that the air quality is ‘Satisfactory’ at the moment.

Usually the air quality is Delhi hovers in the ‘Moderate’ and ‘Poor’ category during the summer and during the winter it deteriorates to ‘Very Poor’ and ‘Severe’ levels. Post-Diwali it deteriorates to ‘Severe+’ levels, forcing the pollution control agencies to shut down industries and construction activities.

On Monday the AQI value was 65. It has remained below 100 since July 25. On July 24 it was 164. On a scale of 0 – 500, an AQI value between 0-50 is considered ‘Good’ and a value between 50 and 100 is considered to be ‘Satisfactory’. During winters this value touches nearly 500.

“The air quality has improved to ‘Satisfactory’ levels because of the intermittent rains and winds. The dust particles have all been washed away,” said a senior official of the Central Pollution Control Board.

Senior officials of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee said that steps to curb pollution, such as mechanical sweeping of roads and penalising people and organisations for violating green norms, are still continuing.

The national capital’s rain deficiency which was hovering above 85% even a week ago, has now come down to just 30%. The India Meteorological Department has forecast more rains this week.

The IMD’s Safdarjung observatory, which is taken to be a representative of Delhi’s weather, has received 6.2 mm rain in the last 24 hours. The day temperature is hovering around 36 degrees Celsius, but is expected to drop by a few degrees in the next few days because of rains.