New Delhi, July 30 -- Delhi rounded off July with a month of weather contrasts, recording its most polluted July in seven years despite witnessing the month's first "good" air quality day in nearly a decade, above-normal monsoon rainfall fuelled by a few intense spells after a prolonged dry phase, and the warmest average day and night temperatures in two years.
The city's average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 119 during the first 30 days of July, making it the highest monthly average for the month since 2019, when it was 134, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The average was significantly higher than last July's monthly average of 78.
Even as the monthly average deteriorated, Delhi recorded its first "good" air quality day in July in nine years, with the AQI dropping to 48. It was the lowest daily minimum AQI recorded in July since 2017, when the index had fallen to 43. At the other end of the spectrum, the AQI climbed to 261 during the month, making it the highest daily maximum AQI recorded in July in five years, since 2021 when it was at 266. During the month, Delhi recorded 15 "moderate", 12 "satisfactory", two "poor" and one "good" air quality day, while it did not witness any "very poor" day.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.