A brief spell of rain on Tuesday night came to the rescue of the people residing in the national Capital as Delhi’s  air quality improved “remarkably” and the National Ambient Air Quality Index  recorded the level of harmful pollutants as “lowest” of this season. 

The contribution from stubble burning to pollution was recorded at three per cent. From severe to poor, SAFAR’s trend marked air quality relatively good! However, the forecast said air quality may deteriorate from Thursday.

The major pollutant PM 10, which has remained above 410, was recorded at 280 on Wednesday, whereas PM 2.5 was significantly less on Air Quality Index (AQI) at 127.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF &CC), the overall average Air Quality Index was recorded at 312 microgram per cubic which was 642 on the very next day of Diwali.

Citing the local climate trend, SAFAR said air quality has improved considerably due to rainfall early on Tuesday; it washed away bigger particles and created space for faster dispersion without decline in temperature.

“AQI is back to “very poor”. A slight increase in AQI is predicted in next three days and likely to remain very poor,” SAFAR said.

“This is mainly due to the fact that surface winds are still low and temperature is likely to cool down. Stubble fire is unlikely to impact Delhi AQI as fire counts are significantly down and winds are also flowing from other direction,” SAFAR explained on Met graph.

The largest contributer to PM 2.5 pollution on Wednesday was power plants followed by diesel generators. Household pollution contributed 15.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, air quality in neighbouring States of Delhi was better.

The restriction imposed by on heavy vehicles’ entry to Delhi was lifted on Wednesday.