Delhi breathes ‘good’ air first time since August last year
Previously, the national capital had breathed ‘good’ air for two consecutive days on August 18 and 19 last year, when the 24-hour Air Quality Index was recorded at 49 (for both days), after a wet spell.
Air quality in the national capital improved to ‘good’ briefly on Saturday morning, before slipping back to ‘satisfactory’ again by noon. The city had received 19.7mm of rainfall till 8.30am on Saturday.
Previously, the national capital had breathed ‘good’ air for two consecutive days on August 18 and 19 last year, when the 24-hour Air Quality Index was recorded at 49 (for both days), after a wet spell. Saturday was the first time since then that the city’s air quality improved to ‘good’ briefly with an AQI reading of 42.Any reading of up to 50 on the Air Quality Index is considered to be an indicator of good air quality.
Saturday’s good air came as a breather for Delhi, which saw alarming levels of air pollution last winter with the AQI jumping to emergency levels and touching 494 on November 3 — the worst level recorded since November 6, 2016.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 4 pm bulletin on Saturday said the air quality index (AQI) was 67 in the ‘satisfactory’ zone for the third consecutive day. It was 64 on Friday and 79 on Thursday. As per CPCB data, the AQI had improved to 42 — considered as ‘good’ — at 11am . Previously, air quality was recorded satisfactory on March 1 when the AQI was 90.
According to scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD), good rainfall and strong surface winds up to a speed of 50 kmph on Friday helped wash the pollutants and improve the air quality significantly. The city is likely to see another spell of rain and gusty winds from the night of March 10, when a Western Disturbance is likely to approach Delhi-NCR.
“Another Western Disturbance is likely to hit the city from the night of March 10, with light rain expected on March 11-12. Gusty winds up to 20-25kmph will return from the night of March 9,” said a senior IMD scientist.
The rain and winds also helped in bringing down the mercury significantly. The maximum (day) temperature on Saturday was 21.3 degrees Celsius, seven notches below the season’s average, while minimum settled at 13 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. Sunday is expected to see clear skies.
As per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the Central government’s air quality monitoring and forecasting wing, the AQI is likely to stay in the ‘satisfactory’ to ‘moderate’ category till March 9.