Delhi's Air quality improves due to rain, moves to 'satisfactory' level

Residents of Delhi breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday as the air quality of the region improved to 'satisfactory' level after brief Saturday showers. According to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall air quality of Delhi is 'satisfactory' with Particulate Matter (PM) 10 at 94 micrograms per cubic metre and PM 2.5 at 46 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Sunday.

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The Air Quality Index (AQI) at Lodhi road was 94 while at Mathura road, it was 78. However, in Chandni Chowk and IIT Delhi area, the AQI was relatively higher as compared to other places and was around 141 and 109 respectively.

SAFAR in its advisory has predicted marginal deterioration in air quality from 'moderate' to 'poor' on Monday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the temperature in Delhi for Monday would hover around 25 degrees Celsius during the day with minimum temperature to be around 15 degrees Celsius. The sky is expected to be generally cloudy with the possibilities of drizzling.

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Rain Brings Down Mercury In Delhi

On Saturday Delhi experienced rainfall in several parts of the national capital, bringing down the temperature. Over a dozen flights were diverted from the Delhi airport due to inclement weather. The maximum temperature settled at 27.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 16.2 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average, a senior MeT official said.

According to the MeT department, the rainfall happened due to a western disturbance, a cyclonic storm that originates in the Mediterranean region and brings sudden winter rain to northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

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Next western disturbance in Delhi- NCR likely on March 5 and 6, MeT

The Next active western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India between March 4 and March 6. Rain and thunderstorm accompanied with hailstorm will occur over western Himalayan regions as well as plains of Northwest India during the period. Under influence of this western disturbance, rains and thunderstorm accompanied by gusty wind and hailstorm, at isolated places, very likely to occur over Delhi-NCR between the evening of March 5 and 6, they said.

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(With inputs from ANI)

(image credit: ANI)