Delhi sees light rainfall on coldest October day in 4 years air quality 'poor'

New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Dark clouds hung over the capital on Thursday as light rain was reported from parts of the city, which recorded its coldest October day in four years, even as air quality remained 'poor' for the second consecutive day.

     The city is likely to receive rain over the next two days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

     The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, Delhi's base weather station, was recorded at 25.4 degrees Celsius, 5.6 degrees below normal. The last time the maximum temperature was lower was on October 8, 2022, when it stood at 23.4 degrees Celsius.

     Despite cloudy skies and rain, Delhi's average Air Quality Index (AQI) was logged at 222 on Thursday, a slight dip from 229 on Wednesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

     The city remained under 'red' and 'orange' alerts at different times during the day, with the weather office forecasting generally cloudy skies with heavy rain during evening hours.

     Several areas received rainfall, with Jharoda Kalan in southwest Delhi recording the maximum 49 mm rainfall till 7 pm.

     For Friday, the IMD has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by rain.     

     The minimum temperature at Safdarjung settled at 19.2 degrees Celsius, 3.1 degrees above normal.

     Palam recorded a maximum temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 17.7 degrees Celsius, while Lodhi Road recorded a maximum of 25.1 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 18.4 degrees Celsius.

     The maximum and minimum temperatures at Ridge settled at 25.2 and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively, while Ayanagar recorded a maximum of 24.6 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 17.4 degrees Celsius.

     Safdarjung recorded trace rainfall in the 24-hour period till 8.30 am, while Palam recorded 0.2 mm. Ayanagar recorded 0.5 mm during the same period.

     Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, Safdarjung recorded 0.5 mm of rainfall and Palam received 1 mm, while Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded trace rainfall.

     Of the city's 58 monitoring stations, 35 recorded 'poor' air quality, while three recorded 'very poor' AQI. Uttam Nagar recorded the highest AQI at 331, followed by Mundka at 305 and Jahangirpuri at 301. The remaining stations recorded moderate air quality.

     According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

     The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has forecast that the city's air quality will likely remain 'moderate' from Friday until October 31, before deteriorating to 'poor' on November 1. The outlook for the subsequent six days also indicates 'poor' air quality.

     The Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi said transport emissions contributed to 16.8 per cent of the city's pollution levels. Other factors include industrial emissions (4.2 per cent), residential sources (4.6 per cent), construction activities (2.3 per cent), biomass burning (1.6 per cent), road dust (1.1 per cent) and others (1.1 per cent).

     Among the NCR districts, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr and Gautam Buddh Nagar each contributed 9.4 per cent to the capital's pollution, followed by Muzaffarnagar at 2.4 per cent, Meerut at 1.9 per cent, Gurugram at 1.8 per cent, Panipat at 1.8 per cent, Jhajjar at 1.5 per cent, Faridabad at 3 per cent, Sonipat at 2.9 per cent and Baghpat at 3.8 per cent.

     Stubble burning contributed 0.9 per cent, while other sources accounted for 16 per cent.

     Satellites detected 205 farm fires across six states on Wednesday, including 96 in Punjab, six in Haryana, 20 in Uttar Pradesh, 57 in Rajasthan, 10 in Uttarakhand and 16 in Madhya Pradesh. No residue-burning events were detected in Delhi.

     Between September 15 and October 28, the system detected 2,472 farm-fire events across the six states. These included 813 in Punjab, 28 in Haryana, 344 in Uttar Pradesh, 519 in Rajasthan, 169 in Uttarakhand, 526 in Madhya Pradesh and two in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)