Delhi's Pollution Challenges: Rain Brings Short Relief, Government Looks into Artificial Solutions

Air in Delhi Gets Better After Light Rain, More Rainfall Expected

Rainfall overnight in New Delhi and nearby areas provided some relief for people as it helped clear the toxic haze and slightly improved air quality. The weather agency anticipates further improvement in pollution levels before Diwali on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Delhi government is in talks with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) about the possibility of inducing artificial rain in the city to address the worsening air quality.

New Delhi is facing a tough time due to a week of intense pollution, with levels of harmful particles reaching up to 100 times what the World Health Organization suggests. Until Thursday, it held the title of being the most polluted city in the world.

The air quality in Delhi at 7 am today was measured at 407, as per information from the government's air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR.

Certain places faced severe pollution, such as Ashok Vihar (443), Anand Vihar (436), Bawana (433), Rohini (429), and Punjabi Bagh (422). The air quality is also concerning in nearby areas like Noida, Gurugram, and others, with Noida having an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 475, Faridabad 459, Gurugram 386, and Ghaziabad 325 this morning.

The information revealed a significant decrease in the amounts of pollutants PM 2.5 and PM10 after 4 am throughout the entire national capital and nearby regions.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government is working to take steps against pollution, and they are also thinking about the idea of 'artificial rain' to lessen the pollution problem. Some ministers from the Aam Aadmi Party were also spotted on the ground on Thursday evening, checking how the anti-pollution efforts were going.

Today, the Supreme Court will check the steps taken to make the air better, think about making road traffic rules stricter, and talk about the impact of dust from construction, a major cause of pollution in the city.

According to Gufran Beig, who founded the government's air-quality monitoring agency SAFAR, Delhi requires substantial and widespread rain to cleanse away pollutants. Light rains, on the other hand, might make the situation worse.

Mr. Beig mentioned that the present wind direction is bringing smoke from burning crop residues in Punjab and Haryana to Delhi. Delhi already has its own pollution sources, and currently, there is hardly any wind to disperse the pollutants.