200 good or moderate air days in Delhi so far in 2023: CAQM

The only other time 200 or more such days were recorded in the last eight years was in 2020, when lockdowns were imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic

A change in the wind direction and increase in temperatures managed to keep the Capital’s air quality in the “moderate” category for a second straight day — a relief after pollution levels increased briefly late last week owing to the annual farm fires and meteorological conditions. With this, Delhi for the second time since 2015 recorded 200 “good to moderate” air days so far this year, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR said.

Monday saw the air quality index (AQI) reading dip slightly to 175 in comparison to Sunday’s 164, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

The only other time 200 or more such days were recorded in the last eight years was in 2020, when a series of lockdowns were imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Monday, however, saw the air quality index (AQI) reading dip slightly to 175 in comparison to Sunday’s 164, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

“The total number of ‘good to moderate’ air quality days upto October 9 in the current year have been 200, compared to 154, 183 and 174 for 2022, 2021 and 2019 respectively for the corresponding period,” CAQM tweeted on Monday.

Following this, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that “the efforts of the people of Delhi are bearing fruit.” At present, measures to curb pollution under the annual Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) are in force in the Capital. The stage-I was rolled out after the air quality deteriorated marginally last Friday, shooting the AQI beyond the 200-level.

However, the air quality is likely to remain “moderate” on Tuesday as well, forecasts show, with chances of a drizzle in some parts of the city. The air quality may deteriorate again on Wednesday with the return of wind direction to northwesterly again, according to the Early Warning System (EWS).

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi-NCR was beginning to see the impact of a western disturbance.

“Delhi’s air quality is likely to be in the ‘moderate’ category from Monday till Tuesday and in the ‘poor’ category from Wednesday to Thursday. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows that the air quality is likely to remain in the ‘poor’ category,” it said.

CPCB classifies an AQI between 0-50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.

Delhi’s AQI had touched “poor” for the first time this winter season last Friday, with a reading of 212. On the same day, CAQM invoked Stage-I under Grap. On Saturday, AQI deteriorated further to 216, before dropping sharply to 164 on Sunday, following a change in the wind direction from northwesterly.

IMD scientist Kuldeep Srivastava said,. “The western disturbance is bringing moisture and leading to cloudiness. It has also changed the wind direction to westerly,” he said, stating there were chances of a drizzle in some parts of NCR on Tuesday. “The impact of this western disturbance will weaken by Tuesday night and from Wednesday, cold northwesterly winds will return,” he added.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature rose owing to the western disturbance . It was recorded at 24.4°C, three degrees above normal, on Monday. On Sunday, it stood at 23.1°C, 20.9°C on Saturday and 18.6°C on Friday.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 36.7°C — three notches above normal — on Monday and was 36.5°C a day earlier.