Page 36 - Air Quality Index

With AQI of 265, Delhi's air on day before Diwali least polluted in 7 years

Delhi recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 265 on Sunday, which was lowest for the day before Diwali in seven years, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed. Diwali will be celebrated across the country on Monday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". Last year, the AQI on November 3 (a day before Diwali) was 314. It had shot up to 382 on the Diwali day and 462 the next day. In 2020, Delhi recorded an AQI of 296 a day before Diwali (November 13), while it worsened to 414 on Diwali and 435 the day after. The capital logged an AQI of 287 on the day before the festival in 2019. It worsened to 337 on Diwali (October 27) and further to 368 the next day. The AQI was 338 on the day before Diwali in 2018. Interestingly, it improved to 281 on the Diwali day before aggravating to 390 the next day. The AQI was 302 and 404 on the day before Di

Ahead of Diwali, Delhi's Air Quality Index dips to 'poor' category

Just a week ahead of Diwali, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital has dipped to the 'poor' category, and in some areas it was recorded as 'severe'.

Air quality likely to worsen in next few days due to stubble burning

Now that the rains and strong winds have stopped, the national capital will witness air pollution rising, said Dr Ravi Kant Pathak

Delhi sees season's first fog; air quality enter poor category by weekend

Delhi reported the season's first episode of fog on Wednesday morning which lowered visibility levels to 350 metres in some parts of the capital. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 20.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below the normal. The maximum temperature settled at around 31 degrees Celsius. Senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) R K Jenamani said the increased moisture content in the air due to a prolonged spell of rain and low temperatures led to the formation of moderate fog in Delhi. "This is the capital's first fog of the season," he said. According to the IMD, very dense fog is when visibility is between 0 and 50 metres, 51 and 200 is dense, 201 and 500 moderate, and 501 and 1,000 metres shallow . Another IMD official said visibility at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, had dropped to 600 metres and to 350 metres at the Palam weather station at 8.30 am. This improved to 2,100 metres at Palam by 9 am and at Safdarjung

Lahore ranked as most polluted city in the world with AQI between 166-279

As the smog season returns, Lahore once again ranked as the most polluted city in the world with the Air Quality Index (AQI) rating ranging between 166 and 279

Backed by strong winds Delhi records cleanest day after Dussehra since 2015

On the day of Dussehra, the AQI was at 211 under the "poor" category. It fell to 79 the next day, under the "satisfactory" category

Graded Response Action Plan: Battling high air pollution in Delhi-NCR

As winter approaches, Delhi-NCR has been placed under the stage 1 measures of GRAP. Read more to find out what exactly is GRAP

Best of BS Opinion: A non-hyphenated democracy, development by HAL & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Up in the air: NCR's smog problem

Stubble burning can make plans ineffective

Delhi's AQI settled mostly under 'moderate' category in September: CPCB

Due to spells of rains, the national capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) settled mostly under the 'moderate' category in September, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed. An AQI between 101 and 200 falls under the 'moderate' category. According to data, September's monthly average AQI has increased by 24 per cent in comparison to 2021, which was recorded at 78. Meanwhile, the average AQI in September 2020 stood at 118 and 111 in 2019. "General AQI in September predominantly remains poor. However, rainfall triggers dip in AQI to 'satisfactory' and 'good' categories. September and October are the transition months. Hence, the AQI starts deteriorating," former head of CPCB's air lab, Dipankar Saha said. Awareness campaigns must be started during the AQI transition periods, he added.

India must train 1 mn people for air quality management in 5 years: Report

India needs to train at least 10 lakh people in the next five years for air quality management, according to a new report, which also says around 50,000 jobs could be created in the sector. The report has been prepared by the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iForest) with the support of the World Bank Group. It highlights the need of a national-level programme to develop the capacity of all stakeholders cities, state and central government agencies, private sector, NGOs and media -- to effectively tackle the problem of air pollution. "Our report shows that we need to train at least 1 million (10 lakh) people over the next five years for air quality management. This will also create tens of thousands of new jobs in the public and private sector to plan, monitor, mitigate, and control air pollutants," said Chandra Bhushan, the CEO of iFOREST and the lead author of the report. He said the report is the first attempt of its kind to map the ...

AQI around 70: This July, air in Delhi is the cleanest it has been in 6 yrs

In July, Delhi's air quality is generally cleaner, owing to the monsoons, but this year, patchy rainfall and other meteorological factors have helped in cleaning the air, say experts

AQI in Delhi 'satisfactory', heavy rains likely on Wednesday: Reports

Even as Monday witnessed a sultry weather in the national capital, the rain from the previous day washed off much of the pollutants in the environment resulting in an overall 'satisfactory' quality.

Delhi's air quality in May poorest for the month in three years: CPCB data

Delhi's air quality in May this year was the poorest for the month in the last three years, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data. Experts attributed the poor air quality to the lack of rainfall in the first half of the month. The city received just 1.4 mm of rainfall from May 1 to May 20, according to the India Meteorological Department. Delhi recorded an average air quality index (AQI) of 212 this year as against 144 in 2021 and 143 in 2020. It saw 21 days of "poor" air quality in 2022 as compared to three in 2021 and just two in 2020. The capital had only one day of "satisfactory" air quality this time as against six in 2021 and four in 2020. "Moderate" air quality days also dipped to nine as compared to 22 such days last year. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe', while the AQI above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.

Delhi's average air quality index this April worst for the month since 2016

The average air quality index (AQI) in Delhi in April this year was 256, the worst for the month since 2016, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

Min temp in Delhi 24.9 deg C, IMD predicts spell of heatwave from April 28

According to the weather department, the relative humidity in the city at 8.30 am was 37 per cent. The weatherman has predicted a mainly clear sky during the day

Do not go for short-cuts: MoS Environment to farmers on stubble burning

Against the backdrop of the hazard posed by stubble burning to air quality in the national capital region, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Tuesday urged farmers not to go for shortcuts as such measures fail to help. He also called upon people to work for the betterment of air quality, saying it is everyone's responsibility as citizens of the country to look after "mother nature". Choubey was speaking at an event, organised by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) in association with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to brainstorm on the issue of amelioration of air quality in the national capital region. Speaking on the issue of stubble burning, Choubey appealed to all farmers to not go for a shortcut, the ministry said in a statement. "If we all move ahead together in making our environment clean then it will serve as a great service to our mother nature. If we don't ..

Delhi's overall air quality index at 232, remains in 'poor' category

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'

Delhi's air quality in 'poor' category with air quality index at 235

AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Delhi's air quality continues to deteriorate as AQI nears 300-mark

Air quality in Pune, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad is in 'satisfactory' category, says state-run monitoring system.