Delhi finally got a break from suffocating heat and humidity on Monday night, as heavy rain swept through the city and washed much of the pollution out of its air along with the high temperatures.
Around the same time, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta gave her approval to the 'Parivartan' scheme aimed at cutting pollution in the capital. Under the scheme, owners of old, polluting vehicles will get tax waivers and other incentives for taking them off the road, a step meant to reduce vehicular smoke in the city.
Rainfall figures and falling temperatures
The weather department said Delhi's minimum temperature on Tuesday stood at 25.6 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below normal, while the maximum was expected to touch around 32 degrees Celsius during the day. Rainfall recorded at various weather stations across the city till 8:30 am showed Safdarjung received 10.6 mm, the Ridge area recorded the highest at 18.6 mm, Ayanagar got 17.4 mm, Palam recorded 15 mm and Lodhi Road logged 12.2 mm. Some areas saw a sharper dip in temperature: Palam's minimum fell to 23.6 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees below normal, while the Ridge recorded 22.4 degrees Celsius, a full 3.9 degrees below normal. Lodhi Road's minimum stood at 25 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal, and Ayanagar recorded 25.8 degrees Celsius, just 0.6 degrees below normal.
Air quality improves to 'satisfactory' level
Along with cooling things down, the rain also settled dust particles and pollutants that were hanging in the air. That showed up directly in the Air Quality Index. At 9 am on Tuesday, Delhi's average AQI was recorded at 88, which falls in the 'satisfactory' category on the Central Pollution Control Board's, or CPCB's, scale. After days of concern over air quality amid the heat and humidity, this improvement comes as welcome relief for residents.
What the AQI categories mean
Under CPCB norms, an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as 'good', 51 to 100 as 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 as 'moderate', 201 to 300 as 'poor', 301 to 400 as 'very poor', and anything between 401 and 500 as 'severe'. With Tuesday's reading of 88, Delhi is currently sitting near the upper end of the satisfactory band.
More rain expected in the coming days
The weather department has forecast heavy rain in several parts of the capital on Tuesday as well, and expects the spell to continue in the days ahead, which should help keep both temperatures and pollution levels in check. At the same time, continuous rain could bring its own challenges, such as waterlogging, so authorities will need to stay alert.
