Delhi Continues To Battle Severe Air Pollution Despite Light Rainfall

New Delhi continues to grapple with severe air quality, even as a light rainfall provided some respite from the toxic haze on Friday (10 November) morning.

The IMD anticipates an improvement in pollution levels ahead of the Diwali festival on Sunday (12 November).

These showers coincide with ongoing discussions between the Delhi government and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) regarding the possibility of using artificial rain to combat the deteriorating air quality.

Over the past week, New Delhi has endured severe pollution, with concentrations of harmful particles reaching levels up to 100 times higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

As of 7 am today(10 November), the overall air quality in Delhi stood at 407, as reported by the government's air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR, as reported by NDTV.

Neighboring cities such as Noida, Gurugram, and others also faced alarming air quality levels, with Noida registering an average AQI of 475, Faridabad at 459, Gurugram at 386, and Ghaziabad at 325.

Data revealed a significant drop in pollutant levels, particularly PM 2.5 and PM10, after 4 am across the national capital and its surroundings.

In response to the ongoing crisis, Several Aam Aadmi Party ministers were observed inspecting the execution of these initiatives on Thursday night.

Today, the Supreme Court is set to review existing measures aimed at improving air quality, consider further restrictions on road traffic, and assess the role of dust generated from construction, a major contributor to the city's pollution issues.

Gufran Beig, the founder director of the federal government's air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR, highlighted that Delhi requires substantial and widespread rainfall to cleanse the atmosphere of pollutants, cautioning that light rains could exacerbate the situation.