Delhi hasn’t had a ‘good’ air day in over a year, you may have to wait till January 2025

New Delhi: Delhi has not breathed a single ‘good’ air day in the past 443 days, with meteorologists further warning that the national capital was likely to end this year without any ‘clean air’ day.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the last time Delhi’s air quality index was in the ‘good’ category was September 2023. The CPCB data shows Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) on 10 September last year was 45—considered ‘good’, shows an analysis by ThePrint.

An AQI of 50 or below is considered ‘good’; ‘satisfactory’ when it is between 51 and 100; ‘moderate’ between 101 and 200; and ‘poor’ when it is between 201 and 300. Anything between 301 and 400 is considered ‘very poor’; while it is marked ‘severe’ when AQI is above 400.

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This year, the cleanest air recording in Delhi was on 13 September, when the AQI touched 52. The AQI on Tuesday was at 343 in the ‘very poor’ category.

“We are yet to record a ‘good’ air day, but we have seen that there has been an increase in the number of ‘moderate’ and ‘satisfactory’ days. We will release the annual air quality analysis soon,” a senior CPCB official told ThePrint.

Senior CPCB officials said that since it was nearly December, which usually records the worst air days of the year, it was unlikely that Delhi would record a ‘good’ air day before January sets in.

Over the last few weeks, the capital has been reeling under one of the worst pollution spells since monitoring began in the region. On November 18, AQI climbed to 494—categorised in the ‘severe plus’ zone.

From 13 November onwards, Delhi has recorded a continuous spell of ‘severe’ AQI—barring two days when it marginally improved but still remained only a few notches short of being categorised in the ‘emergency’ zone.

Also Read: 5 pollution warriors who are fighting to save Delhi’s lungs 

Intense pollution days on rise

Weather experts pointed out that Delhi’s pollution levels are becoming more intense.

While air quality data shows that there has been no significant difference in the average annual AQI recordings, the levels of ultrafine particulate matter or PM2.5—which tends to log into internal organs, causing long-term health problems—are increasing every year.

An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment, an environmental think tank, showed that in 2023, Delhi’s annual average PM2.5 level was 100.9 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3). This was two percent higher than in 2022 and six percent higher than in 2020 when the city’s air was exceptionally clean owing to the Covid lockdown.

The analysis also showed a similar pattern in the long-term three-year average recordings from five of the oldest air quality monitoring stations in Delhi—ITO, IHBAS, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh and RK Puram.  The 2021-23 average was around three percent higher than the 2020-22 period.

Govt data also highlights telling signs

According to the year-end air quality analysis released by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the average monthly AQI recording for December in 2023 was 348—the highest since December 2018, when it was 360.

The ministry data also showed that in 2023, Delhi recorded 60 ‘satisfactory’ air days, 145 ‘moderate’ days, 77 ‘poor’ days, 67 ‘very poor’ days, and 13 ‘severe’ AQI days. The metropolis also saw two ‘severe plus’ days when the AQI breached the 450-mark.

In 2022, on the other hand, Delhi recorded three ‘good’ AQI days, 65 ‘satisfactory’ days, 95 ‘moderate’ days, 130 ‘poor’ air days, 66 ‘very poor’ days and only six days when the AQI reached the ‘severe’ category.

No ‘severe plus’ days were recorded in this year.

Experts said that Delhi’s deteriorating air quality shows the lack of a systematic, long-term plan for pollution management, not just for the capital but for the entire Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) region.

“Till 2019, we were making visible progress in reducing pollution levels through year-long efforts, but after COVID-19, we are almost back to where we started. Governments need to strengthen year-long efforts to manage pollution levels,” said Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at Envirocatalysts, an environment and climate think tank.

(Edited by Tony Rai)

Also Read: Delhi govt pressing for artificial rain to help clear up smog, in talks to bring back odd-even

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