Monsoon magic: Delhi's AQI drops to 48, records first 'good' air day of 2026 after nearly 3 years
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Monsoon magic: Delhi's AQI drops to 48, records first 'good' air day of 2026 after nearly 3 years")
Representative image. Photograph: (ANI)
The Central Pollution Control Board classifies an AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”, the cleanest category on India's scale, which Delhi seldom sees. The respite was brief, as the AQI stood at 54 on Saturday before rising further to 99 on Sunday.
Delhi achieved a rare environmental milestone on the afternoon of July 9, recording a daily average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 48. According to the Commission for Air Quality Management, this marks the capital's lowest daily average AQI of 2026 and its very first "good" air day of the year. The last time the city witnessed such clean air was nearly three years ago, on September 10, 2023.
The Central Pollution Control Board classifies an AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”, the cleanest category on India's scale, which Delhi seldom sees. The respite was brief, as the AQI stood at 54 on Friday and recorded 99 on Saturday. Meanwhile, Delhi was the most polluted capital on Earth in 2024, marking an average of 108 micrograms of these particles per cubic metre, over 20 times the recommended ceiling of 5 micrograms per cubic metre, marked by the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to the IQAir World Air Quality Report.
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Continuous monsoon rains washed pollutants
The development unfolded after the continuous monsoon rains washed the pollutants away from the atmosphere, prompting raindrops to collide with microscopic pollutants floating in the air and drop as well as drag them down. This mid-air capture of the fine particles is known as below-cloud scavenging.
Basically, rain effectively chokes off dust at its source by soaking roadways and construction sites, while powerful monsoon winds disperse any remaining pollutants rather than allowing them to settle over the city. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences highlights that heavy and sustained downpours drastically improve pollutant removal, whereas a light drizzle can actually increase PM2.5 concentrations.
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In damp air, fine particles swell and multiply, so weak rain adds moisture without sweeping anything away. A separate analysis of Delhi's own weather, published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, confirmed that only moderate to heavy rainfall lands a real cleansing blow.
