Anti-pollution GRAP measures in Delhi completely revoked as AQI drops to 119

Authority said forecast indicates that AQI is likely to remain in ‘moderate’ category in the coming days too

All anti-pollution measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR were revoked on Monday as the AQI of Delhi “has shown significant improvement” in the past few days, as per the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

With AQI relatively low, and the weather pleasant, people were seen spending time outdoors at the Safdarjung Tomb in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Now revoked, measures under Stage-1 (for 'poor' AQI) were in force in the entire National Capital Region.

It noted that “owing to favourable meteorological conditions” — such as clear weather and rain — the Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 119 at 4pm on March 16, Monday. That would be ‘moderate’ as per the AQI standards.

The categories are: Good (0-50), satisfactory (51-100), moderate (101-200), poor (201-300), very poor (301-400), and severe (401-500+).

The authority said the forecast indicates that AQI is likely to remain in ‘moderate’ category in the coming days too.

Many areas of Delhi witnessed rain on Sunday. The 24-hour cumulative rainfall till 8:30 am showed that Safdarjung receiving 0.4 mm, Lodhi Road 0.5 mm, and Ayanagar 0.8 mm of rainfall, while Palam and Ridge recorded some rainfall too, according to weather observations reported by news agency PTI.

The minimum temperature settled at 17.4 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees above normal, as summer creeps in.

Station-wise data showed Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 16 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees above normal; Lodhi Road 16.8 degrees Celsius, 2.8 degrees above normal; Ridge 15.6 degrees Celsius, 0.3 below normal; and Ayanagar 16.4 degrees Celsius, 1.7 above normal.

Following the rainfall, Delhi's air quality also improved to 97 in the morning.

If the 24-hour average AQI had remained in the 'satisfactory' category on Monday, it would have marked the first day this year that Delhi's air quality falls in the satisfactory category. But it went up to 119 by the evening, as per the CAQM data.