The city’s air quality was recorded at ‘moderate’ level on Monday after remaining in the ‘severe’ category for nearly a week, said monitoring agencies.
The presence of moisture in the air improved the air quality, said SAFAR. The Meteorological Department has forecast possibility of rain and thunderstorm in Delhi over the next few days that may improve the air quality further.
Down from severe
The pollution level had spiked to ‘severe’ category on June 12 due to dust storms in western India, which increased concentration of coarser particles in the air in the Capital.
On Monday, the PM10 level was recorded at 187 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) in Delhi and 191 ug/m3 in Delhi-NCR.
The PM10 level between 0-100 is considered good , 101-250 moderate , 251-350 poor , 351-430 “very poor” and 431-550 severe .
The PM2.5 level was recorded as 66 ug/m3 in Delhi and 68 ug/m3 in Delhi-NCR, said the Central Pollution Control Board.
The safe limit for PM2.5 is 60 ug/m3.
“The air quality might come down to satisfactory level due to rain and thunderstorm,” said Gufran Beig, a scientist at monitoring agency SAFAR.
Due to overcast skies during the day on Monday, the city witnessed temperatures below the normal level. The maximum temperature was 36.8 degrees Celsius, three notches below average, while the minimum was recorded at 27.9 degrees Celsius, the weatherman said.