Delhi: AQI stays ‘satisfactory’ second day in row

Delhi's air quality remains "satisfactory" for two days, with an AQI of 89. Rain is expected as the monsoon approaches, with a yellow alert issued.

A day after recording its cleanest air in over eight months, Delhi’s air quality remained in the “satisfactory” category for the second consecutive day on Thursday, with bright blue skies visible across the city. The average air quality index (AQI) was 89, a marginal increase from Wednesday’s 81, which was the capital’s cleanest air day since September 29 last year, when the AQI stood at 76.

Clouds above the Lotus Temple in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Thursday marked only the fourth “satisfactory” air day in Delhi in 2025.

In 2023, the Capital recorded 27 such consecutive days between June 28 and August 23. The longest streak in recent years was in 2020, when Delhi saw 51 “satisfactory” air days between July 16 and September 4. To be sure, Delhi typically experiences a flurry of “satisfactory” days during the monsoon, when rains and winds clear the air.

Rain eluded Delhi on Thursday, but the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert from Friday till Monday, forecasting light to moderate showers in the city and gusty winds of up to 50 km/hr, as the monsoon inches closer.

While rain eluded the city on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert from Friday through Monday, forecasting light to moderate showers and gusty winds of up to 50 km/hr as the monsoon continues to approach.

“There is ample moisture in the air and easterly winds will persist over the weekend. This will keep cloudiness in the region with spells of light to moderate rain likely,” said an IMD official.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, meanwhile, said that successive days of satisfactory AQI is “not a coincidence, but the result of strong political will, visionary policies and effective on-ground implementation.”

Sirsa said that in the past 24 hours, 6,482 km of roads were swept, 1,353 km sprayed with water, and 10,942 metric tonnes of garbage was lifted. Since February 20, over one lakh metric tonnes of garbage has been cleared and over 1.1 million km of roads cleaned across Delhi, he added.

Thursday’s maximum temperature was 36.4°C, two degrees below normal. The minimum stood at 27.2°C. The IMD has forecast highs between 36-38°C for Friday and 34-36°C over the weekend, while minimum temperatures are expected to range between 26-29°C.

Delhi has already logged 87.8 mm of rainfall this June, putting it in the “excess” category. The long-period average for the month is 74.1 mm. The monsoon typically arrives in the capital by June 27 but may arrive earlier this year due to faster-than-usual progress. Last year, the monsoon reached Delhi on June 28.

There is still no official word on when the monsoon will reach Delhi, but officials said conditions were favourable for its further advance into parts of Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir in the next two to three days.