Delhi’s air quality sees slight improvement after rain

Delhi’s air quality upgraded to ‘poor’ from the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday due to a recent bout of rain and favorable wind conditions influenced by a western disturbance.

The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 258 at 9:05 am, marking an improvement from the previous day’s 365 at 8 am. AQI categories range from zero to 50 for ‘good’, 51 to 100 for ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 for ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 for ‘poor’, 301 to 400 for ‘very poor’, 401 to 450 for ‘severe’, and above 450 for ‘severe-plus’.

The minimum temperature settled at 14.2 degrees Celsius, which is four notches below the normal average.

Over a 24-hour period until 8:30 am, the city recorded a rainfall of 7.2 mm, while the humidity level remained at 96 percent.

The forecast from the weather office predicts a cloudy sky with the possibility of drizzle throughout the day.

An official from the India Meteorological Department said that the improved wind speed on Tuesday contributed to better dispersion of pollutants. (With inputs from PTI)