Delhi Air Quality Improves Marginally Due to Rain and Wind Speed

Delhi Air Quality Improves Marginally Due to Rain and Wind Speed

VoM News Desk | November 28, 2023 | 10:08 AM IST | Climate & Environment, Health | Follow on Google News

Delhi Air Quality Improves Marginally Due to Rain and Wind Speed

Delhi Air Quality Improves Marginally Due to Rain and Wind Speed

The air quality in Delhi and its surrounding areas showed a slight improvement on Monday, thanks to rainfall and favorable wind conditions brought on by a western disturbance affecting northwest India.

Impact of Rain on Air Quality

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, recorded 7.2 mm of rainfall till 8.30 pm. This rainfall, coupled with an increased wind speed of 20 kilometers per hour, helped disperse pollutants, leading to an improvement in the city’s air quality.

AQI Readings Show Improvement

Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 387 at 10 pm, a marked improvement from the 395 recorded at 4 pm and 400 at 9 am. The AQI is calculated as an average of readings taken in the last 24 hours, and Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI has been fluctuating over the past week, with readings of 395 on Sunday, 389 on Saturday, and higher numbers in the previous days.

Understanding AQI Levels

The AQI scale categorizes air quality as ‘good’ (0-50), ‘satisfactory’ (51-100), ‘moderate’ (101-200), ‘poor’ (201-300), ‘very poor’ (301-400), ‘severe’ (401-450), and ‘severe-plus’ (above 450).

Earlier in the day, a thick smog layer reduced visibility to just 600 meters at 8 am at the Safdarjung Observatory and 800 meters at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. November has seen 10 severe air quality days in the capital so far, compared to just three last year and a maximum of 12 in 2021 since the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) began monitoring.

Biomass Burning as a Major Pollutant

A joint project by the Delhi government and IIT-Kanpur identified biomass burning as the leading contributor to Delhi’s air pollution in recent days, accounting for 31 to 51 percent of the pollution.

Government’s Response

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has directed relevant agencies and departments to enforce restrictions on polluting vehicles and address the increasing incidents of biomass burning to curb pollution levels.

VoM News Desk

VoM News is an online web portal in jammu Kashmir offers regional, National & global news.