Cleansing rainfall brings best air in 10 months, dip in temp

Delhi breathed easier on Wednesday as multiple spells of moderate to heavy rainfall across the city improved the city’s air quality index (AQI) to 59, the best recorded since September 2025, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

Delhi breathed easier on Wednesday as multiple spells of moderate to heavy rainfall across the city improved the city’s air quality index (AQI) to 59, the best recorded since September 2025, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The rainfall also brought down the temperature, with the maximum and minimum recorded at 30.8 degrees Celsius (°C) and 25.4°C — below normal and significant dips from previous day’s respective readings of 37.2°C and 30°C, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Several localities in Delhi, especially in the northern part, reported waterlogging on roads, hindering traffic. (Sonu Mehta/HT)

The IMD, predicting a further slight dip in temperature on Thursday, issued a yellow alert for multiple spells of very light to light rain at many places and moderate rain at isolated places accompanied with thunderstorms throughout Thursday.

On Wednesday, Delhi recorded continuous rainfall through the day, with the base station at Safdarjung recording 26mm of rainfall until 5.30pm. The station at Najafgarh recorded the highest rainfall of 38mm, followed by stations at Jharoda Kalan (32.5mm), Pusa (30.5mm), Lodhi Road (30mm), Palam (27.9mm), Janakpuri (26.5mm), and Mayur Vihar (26.5mm).

The IMD categorises rainfall up to 15.5mm as “light”, between 15.6mm and 64.4mm as “moderate”, between 64.5mm and 115.5mm as “heavy”, and between 115.6mm and 204.4mm as “very heavy”.

“We are seeing an increase in rain due to a well marked low pressure area over central India moving upward, causing the monsoon trough to shift northward. A western disturbance is also pulling the monsoon northward. Strong rains weren’t there for the past few days as the lifting mechanism wasn’t strong earlier. After this week, however, rainfall will decrease due to the axis moving north of its normal position, to the foothills of Himachal,” said Ashwary Tiwari, founder of Indianmetsky weather.

The last time Delhi recorded a better AQI was on September 4, 2025, when it recorded a reading of 58, classified as “satisfactory”, according to the CPCB.

The AQI improvement on Wednesday also marked the third “satisfactory” air day this month, after Delhi recorded an AQI of 96 on July 2 and an AQI of 94 on July 6.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”.

Waterlogging

Several localities in Delhi, especially in the northern part, reported waterlogging on roads, hindering traffic. Residents from Badarpur, Raja Garden, and Mundka, among others, also reported waterlogging.

A video posted online, showing a group of schoolgirls clinging to the grilles of a transformer on a waterlogged road in Swaroop Nagar sparked safety concerns. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

“Ghantaghar Chowk, Malkaganj, Azad Market, Sazbi Mandi, and SGT Nagar are some of the areas in north Delhi which have seen a lot of waterlogging today. This is an annual problem, as the roads and footpaths here are not properly built, and the sewers are not cleaned. Despite multiple complaints, agencies do nothing,” said Ashok Bhasin, president of the North Delhi Residents Welfare Federation.