Rains help bring a clean start to 2023

Air quality during the first four months of 2023 was recorded as the second cleanest in the last eight years, only behind 2020 when the Covid-19 lockdown was in place in the country, according to pollution data for January to April shared by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: Rainier than usual days in March and April, and strong winds in February are among the factors that contributed to it.

CAQM data showed that Delhi recorded 52 days in these four months when the Air Quality Index (AQI) was lower than 200 till April 30. In 2020, owing to the lockdown, Delhi recorded 68 such days. In comparison, Delhi had 27 such days last year, while the figure was just eight in 2016.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI between 0-50 as "good", between 51 and 100 as "satisfactory", between 101 and 200 as "moderate", between 201 and 300 as "poor", between 301 and 400 as "very poor" and over 400 as "severe". Therefore, an AQI lower than 200 is "moderate", "satisfactory" or "good". While no good air days were recorded so far this year, a majority of the 52 days with lower than 200 AQI comprised "moderate" air days, CAQM said.