Flights diverted, rain cleanses air

THE first reaction to a meagre rain in Delhi on Monday was a sigh of relief – from pollution amid clear indication of a winter struggling to set in.

- ASHISH SRIVASTAVA

In the evening, though, there was a little disturbance in the flight schedules at Delhi airport where 16 flights on the way to the national capital were diverted due to inclement weather and air traffic congestion.

Thundershowers and hailstorms resulted in a slight improvement in the air quality, officials said. Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) read 395 at 4 pm. The AQI at 9 pm was 391. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe.’