Beautiful November rain in Delhi but air quality still ‘far from safe’

Beautiful November rain showered the national capital in the night and through the wee hours on Wednesday. Delhiites did wake up to a fresh and less smoggy day. The early morning drizzles ushered in the wintry cold and provided the much-needed respite from the severely polluted air that has been choking the residents for the past one week. Delhi’s air quality “improved significantly” and temperature is likely to fall, but the air quality is “far from safe”, authorities said.

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The air quality was still in ‘very poor’ category with AQI of 306, according to the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR). The AQI has been moving from very poor to severe for the past week. Similar conditions are likely to prevail in the coming days, SAFAR said.

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According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, on Wednesday, 21 areas in Delhi recorded ‘very poor’ air quality while 14 areas showed ‘poor’ air quality. The PM2.5 particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres level was recorded at 175, while the PM10, particles in the air with a diameter of less than 10 micrometres, was at 280 in Delhi, the CPCB said.

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Apart from Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Greater Noida and Noida recorded ‘very poor’ air quality while Gurgaon’s air quality was recorded in the ‘poor’ category, it said.

“AQI is back to ‘very poor’. A slight increase in ‘AQI’ is predicted in next three days but it is likely to remain in very poor category… This is mainly due to the fact that surface winds are still low and temperature is likely to cool down. Stubble fire is unlikely to impact Delhi as fire counts are significantly down and winds are also flowing from other direction,” SAFAR said.

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An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’

AQI between 51 and 100 is ‘satisfactory’

AQI between 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’

AQI between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’

AQI between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’

AQI between 401 and 500 is ‘severe’.