Delhi's air quality likely to become 'good' as rains continue
Delhi's air quality may improve to 'good' this week as the national capital has received heavy rainfall this monsoon. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) will remain 'satisfactory' this week, but may improve to 'good'. Earlier this week, the national capital had received 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall, which helped wash out pollutants from the air.
A senior CPCB official told Hindustan Times that as per the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) forecast for the week, Delhi's air quality will remain 'satisfactory' or an optimistic 'good'. The official said, "The continuous spell of showers has washed out the pollutants in the air. Since August 20, the air quality index (AQI) has been below 60 in the 'satisfactory' zone."
Over the following week (August 23-29), Delhi is expecting to witness light to moderate rain/thundershowers with strong surface winds on Sunday, according to the IMD. IMD scientists said with another week of rain, this August will likely be the wettest in the last five years. The recent spell of rains had resulted in a "good" air day on Thursday (the third this year).
At 8 am on Sunday, Delhi's AQI was 51, according to the CPCB. The 24-hour average on Saturday was 56 and 57 on Friday. An AQI reading of 0-50 is considered "good," while by 51-100 is considered "satisfactory". This year's first "good" air day in Delhi was on March 28 (AQI 45)—the first week of the coronavirus lockdown—followed by August 13 (AQI 50).
