Delhi air quality remains 'very poor'; rain expected to bring some relief

The city's Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 368 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to SAFAR

Delhi's air was polluted on Tuesday as rains expected in the next couple of days are likely to improve a months-long pollution that prompted the Supreme Court to seek permanent solution.

The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was at 368 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR. Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'. 

SAFAR on Monday said the AQI will continue to remain very poor on Tuesday, as it added, "High winds and intermittent rains are likely during January 5 to January 8 that are expected to improve AQI significantly to 'lower end of very poor' through strong dispersion and wet deposition. Mixing layer height continues to be about 1 km."

Delhi this morning was the world's second most polluted city with an AQI of 287, said IQAir, a website that tracks air quality worldwide.

Preliminary data from a month-long experiment has shown that indoor air pollution levels were nearly half of the outdoor levels in Delhi-NCR during November-December so far.

Air pollution costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg has reported.