Rain lashes Delhi-NCR, air pollution improves overnight

New Delhi: Rain in several parts of Delhi-NCR provided the much needed respite from the escalating air pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) moved to the ‘poor’ and ‘good’ categories at multiple monitoring stations.

The overall Air Quality Index on Friday morning was at 398, in the ‘very poor’ category, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

In the national capital, the Ashok Vihar station was in the ‘satisfactory’ category with PM 2.5 at 77 and PM 10 at 67 while the CO was at 56, also under ‘satisfactory’ category at 10 a.m., as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The 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’.

At the Bawana station PM 2.5 was recorded at 177 and PM 10 at 121, in the ‘moderate’ category, while the CO reached 48 and NO2 at 19, both in the ‘good’ category.

At the Delhi Technical University (DTU) station, the PM 10 reached 102 under ‘moderate’ category while PM 2.5 was at 52 under ‘satisfactory’ category on Friday. The CO was recorded at 38 and NO2 was at 34, under the ‘good’ category.

The air quality at the Indira Gandhi International Airport T3 area was in the ‘satisfactory’ category with PM 2.5 at 76 and PM 10 at 61 while the Carbon monoxide (CO) reached 66 in the ‘satisfactory’ category and NO2 at 16, in the ‘good’ category.

The PM 2.5 at Jahangirpuri was recorded at 150, putting it in the ‘moderate’ category while PM 10 reached 153, placing it also under ‘moderate’ category. The CO was recorded at 75, ‘satisfactory’ category and NO2 at 11 ‘good’ on Friday.

At Punjabi Bagh, the PM 2.5 reached 143 and PM 10 at 103, both under the ‘moderate’ category while the NO2 was at 48, a ‘good’ level.

In Noida, sector-62 station recorded PM 2.5 at 77 and PM 10 was at 82, both in ‘satisfactory’ levels while CO was at 104, in ‘moderate’ category and NO2 at 15, good levels.

Gurugram’s sector 51 station reported the PM 2.5 at 137 and PM 10 at 134 both in moderate category. The CO was also recorded at 102, in moderate category while NO2 was at 72, satisfactory levels.

In Ghaziabad’s Loni, the PM 2.5 was recorded at 212, ‘poor’ category and PM 10 was at 109, a ‘moderate’ category. The CO was at 86 and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was at 61, both in ‘satisfactory’ levels.

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