City witnesses highest rainfall in January, air quality remains 'poor'

New Delhi: Despite receiving light rains in the morning, the air quality of the national Capital remained poor on Friday, said System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). On Friday the overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi stood at 265.

Meanwhile, weather experts have predicted that the national capital region has recorded fairly widespread moderate to heavy rains on Thursday, which has shattered the decade-old record.

In a span of 24 hours from 8:30 am on Thursday, Safdarjung Observatory has recorded 17.7 mm of rains. With this, Delhi has recorded a total of 34.5 mm of rains in the month so far, which is the highest amount of rainfall recorded in January in last 10 years. Also, the national capital has also surpassed its monthly average rainfall which stands at 19.1 mm, according to weather experts.

SAFAR has stated that the current western disturbance is "positively influencing air quality in the region."

"The high wind speed is the main factor contributing to efficiently fleshing out the pollutants. Slight decrease in wind speed and marginal deterioration of AQI to the higher end of the poor category to lower-end of very poor category is expecting on January 18," said SAFAR.

However, fresh WD is likely to improve wind speed and AQI to the poor category of the Delhi region by January 19. Meanwhile, as per SAFAR-model, Saturday's top three air pollution hot spots of Delhi are likely to be Jahangirpuri, Adarsh Nagar and Vinobapuri.

On the other hand, SAFAR has advised 'Sensitive Groups' to reduce prolonged or heavy exertion when the air quality is not good.