Delhi’s pollution at lowest level this winter

NEW DELHI: The capital’s air quality fared much better than usual, doing better than Mumbai and Pune for the first time this winter season.

With the 2.5 PM level at 63 micrograms per cubic metre of air, New Delhi saw its lowest mean figure for the season yesterday, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). The corresponding figure for Mumbai stood at 94, while Pune was at 71. Ahmedabad did marginally better, coming in at 62.

This year’s pollution levels in January have been better than previous years, with only a single day of severe pollution so far. Aided by the western disturbances, the city witnessed a few days of rainfall that helped alleviate the pollution.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) for New Delhi stood at 116, while Mumbai remained much worse at 205.

This is also the first time that the New Delhi AQI has breached the “moderate” category this year, usually fluctuating between the “very poor” and “poor”.

SAFAR said that the improvement in air quality was due to a high speed of wind on the ground, which is favourable. “The high ventilation helped to flush out the pollutants and better the AQI,” it said.

These conditions are likely to sustain for a couple of days. No dust transport from neighbouring states in expected, helping the situation in the city, according to the Air Quality Warning System for Delhi.

Forecast in Delhi for Saturday: 89

Overall Air Quality Index across Indian cities on Friday, at 16:47:52