AMID HEAVY RAINFALL, DELHI BREATHES CLEANEST AIR IN 297 DAYS

For Delhi residents, the rain over the past few days has brought relief not only from the sweltering heat, but now also from the air pollution that incessantly plagues the city.

Delhi on Thursday recorded the cleanest air the city has seen in nearly 300 days, as the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) reading fell to 61 in the satisfactory category. This is the best air Delhi has seen since September 11, 2023, when it was 53, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

On-and-off spells of rain in the city in the past 24 hours, coupled with strong winds, were the reason for the improvement in air quality, weather scientists said.

The rain also continued to offer relief from the heat. Overcast skies throughout the day meant that the maximum temperature in the city was lodged at 31.7 degrees Celsius (°C), six degrees below what is considered normal for this time of the year. A day earlier on Wednesday, it was 34.1°C.

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Delhi’s minimum similarly fell to 24.8°C on Thursday, three notches below normal. It was 29°C on Wednesday.

A day’s AQI reading is taken at 4pm daily, which is the average AQI of the 24 hours preceding it. On Wednesday, the 4 pm reading was 108 (moderate). Prior to Thursday, the lowest AQI this year was 64 (satisfactory) on June 28, after Delhi saw a record-breaking spell of 228.1mm rain.

An AQI reading between 51 to 100 is classified as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 is classified as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 is classified as “poor”, between 301 and 400 is classified as “very poor” and over 400 is “severe” by the CPCB.

Forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) state that light to moderate showers are likely in the Capital on Friday, with a yellow alert in place. Over the weekend, only isolated light rain is expected, according to IMD’s forecast.

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“We saw patchy light rain in parts of Delhi in the early hours of Thursday. A spell was also seen post noon on Wednesday, with wind speeds ranging between 10-25 km/hr,” said an IMD official.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at a private weather forecast company Skymet meteorology, said the monsoon trough was presently north of Delhi, with it likely to move further away from Delhi only on Saturday.

“On Friday, we can expect similar light to moderate showers. Isolated parts of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh may even record heavy rain. From Saturday, the trough will move further north, closer to the foothills and away from Delhi,” he said.

Delhi enjoys its best spell of the year in the monsoon period, when a combination of rain and good wind speed helps settle and disperse pollutants. The period between July and September is also generally the time Delhi has the highest chance of recording a “good” air day, when the AQI drops below 50. The last time a good air day was seen was on September 10, when the AQI was 45.

Delhi recorded moderate to light showers on Thursday, taking the total rainfall in the 24 hours preceding 8.30am to 9.2mm at Safdarjung, 17.4mm at Palam and 40.8mm at Ayanagar. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Thursday, Safdarjung recorded 0.6mm, Palam 0.2mm and Ayanagar 2.1mm.

Safdarjung has failed to record any rain in the first three days of the month. Since the monsoon arrived in Delhi on June 28, when 228.1mm was recorded, ‘trace’ rainfall was recorded on June 29 and 8.9mm on June 30.

Forecast for Friday shows Delhi is likely to see light to moderate rain during the day, with a maximum and minimum of 33 and 26°C respectively on Friday.

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2024-07-04T20:50:23Z dg43tfdfdgfd