New Delhi gets a breather, overnight rains bring relief, clear smog

Indian capital New Delhi finally got a breather on Friday, as overnight rains cleared some of the toxic air that had been plaguing the city for days.

Delhi, till Thursday (Nov 9) was the most polluted city in the world. Early on Friday, rains brought a welcome respite, and the city saw its air quality index (AQI) improve. AQI levels fell to 127 fromearlier hazardous levels of 400-500.

Rains to continue?

As per Reuters, the Indian weather department has predicted that intermittent natural rains will sprinkle over the city and adjoining areas till early noon on Friday. The weather agency has also predicted light showers for the adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

Indian capital's toxic air

During the past week, Delhi consistently recorded "hazardous" 400–500 levels of AQI, according to the Swiss group IQAir. After the rains somewhat cleared the air on Friday morning, New Delhi slipped to become the 10th most pollutedcity in the world. Meanwhile, India's Kolkata topped the global chart with an AQI of 303.

For about a week, the city topped the most polluted cities index and as worries of health problems were exacerbated, schools were shut, with an early winter break of nine days, from November 9 to 18, announced.

Owing to the health hazard, the Delhi government had also invoked Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a set of anti-pollution guidelines.

Furthermore, a ban was placed on construction activities and diesel trucks in the national capital.

Additionally, to improve the air quality, authorities, as per reports, were mulling seeding clouds and bringing about artificial rain. This action was slated to happen on November 20-21 in collaboration with a team from IIT Kanpur.

(With inputs from agencies)