Rains likely to bring relief to Delhiites

NEW DELHI: Delhi is expected to get a breather from the polluted air next week as a weather system approaching northwest India is likely to bring rain in the region. Increasing surface wind speeds, coupled with rainfall in northwest India, will help in the dispersal of pollutants, weather officials say.

Owing to a western disturbance, which is a rain-bearing weather system, the weather office is expecting rain and snowfall in the western Himalayan region Saturday onwards. The plains of northwest India, except Rajasthan, are also expected to see light rainfall activity between December 10 and 11, the IMD said in a forecast.

“There is a western disturbance approaching northwest India. It will affect the plains Monday onwards. We are expecting brief showers in Delhi-NCR on Monday night and Tuesday morning. The air quality is expected to improve significantly after that,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist, IMD.


Heavy rainfall usually helps in washing away the pollutants accumulated in the air. Brief spells of shower, however, will worsen the air quality. “It helps if it rains for a longer time and heavily. If it is brief shower, it will introduce a lot of moisture in the air, which will instead increase the level of pollution,” a government official said. Srivastava said that even if the quantum of rainfall is less, it can substantially help in bringing down pollution levels since the surface wind speed is expected to increase.