Delhi avoids ‘Dussehra spike’, gets rare ‘satisfactory’ air day

Rain and strong winds turned saviours for Delhi on Friday, sparing residents the usual post-Dussehra spike in air pollution that follows effigy burning celebrations marking the culmination of the nine-day Navratri festival. After days of moderate pollution and hazy skies, the weather provided a much-needed respite for the national capital's residents.

- JasjeevGandhiok Gandhiok

The city's air quality improved on Friday, reaching the ‘satisfactory’ category and ending a 2-day streak of moderate AQI readings above 100. Delhi's 24-hour average AQI stood at 88 at 4pm, an improvement from 123 at the same time on Thursday - marking the lowest post-Dussehra AQI since 2022, when it was at 79 on October 6.

Comparing past years, the post-Dussehra air quality in Delhi has often worsened dramatically. In 2022, the AQI was 155 on Dussehra (October 12) before climbing to 224 the next day. In 2023, the city saw an AQI of 220 on Dussehra (October 25), which spiked further to 243 the following day.

The highest post-Dussehra AQI recorded in recent years was in 2020, when it soared to 353 on October 26, entering the ‘very poor’ category.

Experts attributed the relief on Friday to a combination of meteorological factors. “Winter is yet to arrive and we had rain in the first half of the day, followed by scattered spells even in the evening. We also had consistent winds of 15km/hour in the evening, which did not let pollutants accumulate,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet Meteorology.