Delhi Sees Highest ‘Good’ And ‘Moderate’ Air Quality Days Since 2018

Delhi recorded the highest number of ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ air quality days in 2024 since the past six years, data shared by monitoring agencies said.

According to the data, a total of 207 days saw ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ air quality, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining below 200. The month of December recorded six ‘moderate’ air quality days so far – surpassing the previous records since 2018. The data showed that so far, December witnessed a total of eight ‘poor’ to ‘severe’ air quality days.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, 401 and 450 severe, and above 450 severe-plus.

“I do feel a difference in the air…Last few weeks I’ve been cycling here but the visibility was very poor. Today, it is fairly clear,” a resident told NDTV.

Delhi’s AQI touched the ‘severe plus’ category this season post-Diwali, forcing the authorities to impose the fourth and last stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Under this, all schools were shifted online and a ban was imposed on Delhi-registered BS-IV or older diesel medium and heavy goods vehicles. All the construction activities in the national capital were also halted.

On December 5, the Supreme Court allowed the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to relax GRAP stage IV restrictions as the air quality improved. Since then, the AQI in the national capital has been reeling between ‘poor’ to ‘moderate’.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the ‘poor’ category today, with the AQI at 246 in the morning. On Saturday, it was measured at 212.