Delhi’s Air Quality Shows Slight Improvement After Light Showers
Air quality in Delhi and its suburbs saw a slight improvement on Monday as a result of rain and favorable wind speed caused by a western disturbance affecting northwest India. The Safdarjung Observatory, the primary weather station in the national capital, recorded 7.2 mm of rainfall until 8.30 pm. The rain helped increase the wind speed to 20 kilometers per hour, which aided in the dispersion of pollutants, according to an official from the India Meteorological Department.
At 10 pm, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 387, showing an improvement from 395 at 4 pm and 400 at 9 am. The AQI is an average of readings taken over the past 24 hours. The 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm every day was 395 on Sunday, 389 on Saturday, 415 on Friday, 390 on Thursday, 394 on Wednesday, 365 on Tuesday, 348 on Monday, and 301 on November 19.
Earlier in the day, Delhi was covered by a thick layer of smog, reducing visibility to just 600 meters at the Safdarjung Observatory and 800 meters at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. This November, the city has already experienced 10 severe air quality days, compared to only three in November last year and 12 in 2021, the highest number in this month since monitoring began.
According to a joint project by the Delhi government and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, biomass burning has been identified as the leading cause of Delhi’s air pollution, contributing 31 to 51 percent to the city’s foul air in recent days.
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