With monsoon winds washing away the dust, Delhiites breathed the cleanest air this week as the air quality was brought to the "satisfactory" level for the first time in nearly a year. The national capital was hit by the south-west monsoon earlier this week with a light shower on Monday and heavy downpour on Thursday.
Though many might not approve of rainy weather, it was a welcome change in Delhi, bringing respite from not only the scorching heat but also from the severe pollution that had choked the quality of air to unexpected levels earlier this month.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) ranges and marked as 0-50 "Good", 51-100 "Satisfactory", 101-200 "Moderate", 201-300 "Poor", 301-400 "Very Poor" and 401-500 "Severe".
As known from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the value of Air Quality Index (AQI) was 83 on Friday which indicated a satisfactory level of air quality of the capital city. It reached this level after the heavy pre-monsoon rain on Wednesday. Such clean air in Delhi was only witnessed in August 2017, said a CPCB official.
It is being forecasted that the quality of air might improve in the coming days.
The air quality will further improve tomorrow and in the coming days. The monsoon winds cleaned the dusty air and brought the air quality to satisfactory level," said Gufrn Beig, a scientist at the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research Institute (SAFAR).
He added that the quality level of air might even touch "Good" in the coming days.
Earlier this month, Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain had said that the department and various agencies had made sustained efforts that resulted in controlling dust successfully.
The air quality level in the city was pushed to "severe plus" due to dust storms in western India that brought down the quality of air on June 13. It was being said that the cause of such severe level of pollution could be a "summer-time problem".
