Residents in New Delhi and the surrounding areas experienced some relief from the toxic smog and slightly better air quality after overnight rainfall. The weather service anticipates that pollution will decrease even more before Sunday’s Diwali. The rains coincide with ongoing talks between the Delhi government and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to create artificial rain in the nation’s capital to counteract the declining quality of the air.
Following a week of extreme pollution that saw concentrations of dangerous particles up to 100 times the WHO-recommended levels, New Delhi is in disarray. Up until Thursday, it was the most polluted city in the world.
As of 7 am today, SAFAR, the government’s air-quality monitoring agency, reported an overall air quality of 407 in Delhi.
Ashok Vihar (442), Anand Vihar (436), Bawana (433), Rohini (429), and Punjabi Bagh (422) were among the most severely impacted localities. In neighboring cities like Noida, Gurugram, and others, the situation is hardly any better. The average AQI this morning was 475 in Noida, 459 in Faridabad, 386 in Gurugram, and 325 in Ghaziabad.
According to the data, there was a significant decrease in PM 2.5 and PM10 levels in the national capital and its environs after 4am.
In the meantime, the administration of Delhi is working to implement anti-pollution measures and is even thinking of using “artificial rain” to lessen the problem of pollution. On Thursday night, a number of Aam Admi Party ministers were also spotted on the ground examining how anti-pollution programs were being carried out.
Today, the Supreme Court will consider tightening regulations on vehicle traffic, review existing efforts to enhance air quality, and address the role of dust created by construction, which is one of the main causes of the city’s pollution issues.
According to Gufran Beig, the founding director of the federal government’s air-quality monitoring body SAFAR, mild rainfall could make the situation worse in Delhi, which needs significant and widespread rain to wash away the pollutants.
Mr Beig added that current airflow is carrying smoke from crop residue burning in the states of Punjab and Haryana to Delhi, which also has its own pollution sources and where there is currently almost no wind.
