Delhi's air quality at safe levels

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality improved dramatically to safe levels in most parts of the city, helped by the complete stoppage of truck movement due to the agitation in Haryana and favourable flow of wind from the northwest in recent days.

Most parts of Delhi had “good” level of small particulates (PM-2.5), larger particulates called PM-10, oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide over the weekend data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology showed on Sunday.

While most parts of Delhi had healthy air quality, adjoining areas of Noida and Gurgaon had “poor” quality of air, according to official data.

Trucks that pass through Delhi are one of the biggest sources of pollution in the capital. However, in the past two days, agitators in Haryana seeking job reservations had choked every major highway, bringing the flow of heavy vehicles to a halt in Delhi and adjoining areas.

Official data shows that Delhi’s air quality is significantly better than what prevailed during the first half of January, when the local government imposed restrictions on personal cars but not on trucks.

The pollution level in Delhi is far below Mumbai, where air quality is “very poor”. Delhi’s air on Sunday was even cleaner than Colaba, the southern tip of Mumbai surrounded by the Arabian Sea. It is also cleaner than Mumbai’s Worli area that generally has much lower pollution than the country’s capital.