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Delhi Air Quality
From rain-soaked days to warm nights, August has unfolded differently for Delhi this year: Rainfall has already crossed the seasonal average, day and night-time temperatures remain high, and the month's average air quality index has reached a three-year high. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi has received 653.9 mm of rainfall at Safdarjung since the beginning of the monsoon season, compared with the long-period average of 506.7 mm, resulting in a surplus of 147.2 mm, or 29 per cent. The capital also recorded its wettest first week of August in 15 years, receiving 127 mm of rainfall during the first seven days of the month, the highest for the period since 2011. The month witnessed one of its heaviest single-day rainfall spells on August 25, when Safdarjung recorded 99.1 mm of rain in 24 hours, the highest rainfall for an August day in two years, the IMD said. The last time Safdarjung recorded more rainfall in August was on August 1, 2024, when the station
Construction activities will be completely banned in Delhi from December 10 to January 20 as part of the government's measures to curb air pollution during the winter season, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Friday. In a post on X, Gupta urged citizens to report violations, saying construction sites measuring above 500 square metres would be monitored through the Delhi government's Dust Portal and AI-enabled cameras. "Construction will be completely banned from 10 December to 20 January. If you spot any violation, inform MCD, your MLA, or me directly," she said. Gupta said that during the previous winter, construction activities had continued at some sites despite the implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), with work being carried out behind covers. "Last time, even under GRAP, some construction continued behind covers," she said. This year, such sites will be monitored in real time through the Dust Portal and AI-enabled cameras, with alerts being sent to the .
The Commission for Air Quality Management on Friday decided against invoking GRAP restrictions in Delhi-NCR at the moment despite the air quality slipping into the poor category, officials said. According to the AQI bulletin by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi's daily average AQI breached the 200 mark on Thursday and was recorded at 266 (poor category). "The Commission for Air Quality Management sub-committee on GRAP called a meeting to review the current air quality scenario in the region, as well as the forecast for meteorological conditions and AQI made available by IMD and IITM," a senior official said. "The panel, while reviewing the current air quality scenario of Delhi-NCR and forecast for weather and meteorological conditions, noted that Delhi's AQI, which was recorded 194 yesterday, has sharply deteriorated to 266 at 4 pm today, owing to the dust storm in the early morning," the official added. The commission noted that the weather or AQI forecast also ...
Delhi recorded the lowest yearly average of particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 in 2025, barring the Covid year i.e. 2020, according to the economic survey of 2025-26 tabled in the Delhi Assembly by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday. The report, which quotes Delhi Pollution Control Committee's (DPCC) Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) data, the yearly average of PM10 in 2025 was 209 (measured in micrograms per cubic metre) and that of PM2.5 was 100. This was the lowest since 2015, before which data is not available. In 2020, which was the year of the global Covid pandemic, PM10 yearly average had dropped to 187 but PM2.5 remained at 101, one unit higher than 2025. According to the DPCC data provided, the yearly average of PM10 and PM2.5 in 2024 were 225 and 110 respectively, in 2023 were 219 and 106. The PM10 and PM2.5 yearly average were 223 and 103 in 2022, and were 221 and 113 in 2021, respectively. The report quoted that the year-wise annual mean ambien
Delhi breathed easier on Monday after 157 days, as the city's air quality improved to 119 in the 'moderate' category, while the city recorded a maximum temperature of 32.2 degrees Celsius. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 119, the lowest recorded since October 9, 2025, when the AQI had stood at 99 in the same category. At 9 am on Monday, the AQI stood at 97 in the 'satisfactory' category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The improvement came after the city experienced light rain on Sunday. According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'. The improvement in air quality came after many parts of Delhi and the surrounding region on Sunday received light rain, triggered by a western disturbance. The drizzle brought respite from the rising heat and helped disperse pollutants in the
Delhi was the most polluted city during 2024-25, recording the highest annual PM2.5 levels and extended periods of "severe" air quality in winter while Patna was the second-most polluted city, according to a new analysis by Climate Trends. Climate Trends is a research-based consulting and capacity-building initiative that aims to bring greater focus on issues of environment, climate change and sustainable development. Based on Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) air quality monitoring data, this report analysed how meteorological conditions influence the persistence of PM2.5 pollution across six major Indian cities such as Delhi, Patna, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. Using CPCB air quality data (2024-2025) combined with meteorological clustering, the study distinguished emission-driven pollution from weather-driven variability. "Delhi continues to face the most severe pollution crisis nationally with the highest annual average PM2.5 levels and the longest stretches of ..