Delhi breathes easy after long as rains wash down pollutants. What next?
Business Standard|August 27, 2024
Delhi and its adjoining areas are breathing easy! Owing to good rain in August, the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi averaged among the best in recent times so far.
NITIN KUMAR & SANJEEB MUKHERJEE

The data shows the average AQI from August 1 to August 24 in the city was 70, the lowest since 2020, the year the pandemic came and when it averaged 64.

The average AQI in August last year was 116, in 2022 it was 93, and in 2021 it stood at 107.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows till August 23, Delhi had 21 rainy days. The previous occasion when August had a higher number of rainy days was in 2012, when 22 were recorded as "rainy days", according to the data from the Safdarjung Observatory.

With the monsoon expected to last longer in 2024, at least well into September, there is a good possibility that the AQI will remain tolerable for the next few weeks.

So far so good, but the big question is if the good times will last long? Or with the advent of winter, and the stubble-burning season, will the air worsen? Sunil Dahiya, analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), told Business Standard the drop in air pollution was not because of systematic and comprehensive efforts to reduce emission load from polluting sectors such as power generation, transport, waste burning, or construction. So it is less likely that the gains will be sustained, he added.

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