NEW DELHI: Delhiites witnessed the cleanest day after a gap of
281 days
as the Air Quality Index (
AQI
) dipped to 79 in '
satisfactory
' category on Thursday. This was also the first 'satisfactory' day of the year. Rain and strong winds helped in cleaning the air quality.
Central Pollution Control Board's data shows that a lower AQI than Thursday was seen on Sept 19 last year when it was 73.
Sept 2023 had witnessed nine 'satisfactory' days and one 'good' day when AQI touched 45 on Sept 10.
Oct last year saw one 'satisfactory' day with an AQI of 89 on Oct 17. However, no 'satisfactory' day was seen between Oct 18, 2023 and June 26 this year.
The air quality mostly remained in 'poor' to 'moderate' category this summer season. Experts said as local and regional sources of pollution remained high and intense rain was missing the city, the dry spell led to worse air quality.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, said, "Prolonged heatwave and a dry spell had contributed substantially to dust pollution and overhang during summer. The onset of rains therefore has an immediate washout effect. We will see more cleaner air days during the monsoon due to the same reason. This breather needs to be effectively utilised to pace up action to be better prepared for the winter."
In Delhi, monsoon months are usually the cleanest.
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