Delhi AQI remains in ‘poor’ category despite cloud seeding attempts

Delhi pollution

Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories on Wednesday morning despite attempts at tackling severe air quality in Delhi with the help of artificial rain experiment conducted on Tuesday.

The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 275, placing it in the ‘poor’ category, according to the Air Quality Early Warning System at 5.30 am. The temperature at the time was 18.8°C.

Pollution levels stay high across city

While there was a slight drop compared to earlier readings, several areas in Delhi continued to report high pollution levels. Wazirpur recorded the worst AQI at 327, followed by Sirifort (326), Bawana (320), and Rohini (320).

Other severely affected areas included Mundka (315), Vivek Vihar (309), and R K Puram (308). Most other areas, including Anand Vihar, ITO, and Dwarka, also remained in the ‘very poor’ range.

The AQI scale classifies readings as follows, Good (0–50), Satisfactory (51–100), Moderate (101–200), Poor (201–300), Very Poor (301–400), and Severe (401–500). Higher the AQI reading, the unhealthier it is to breathe.

Question over cloud-seeding

Environmental experts have said that the cloud-seeding experiment can offer only temporary relief. “It may help bring down pollution for a short while but doesn’t solve the real problem,” The Indian Express quoted an expert as saying.

A senior official from the Ministry of Earth Sciences also questioned the timing of the experiment. “Cloud seeding is not useful in the post-monsoon or winter season, as these months are dominated by western disturbances and often lack mature clouds,” the official said.

Air quality in NCR also deteriorates

Neighbouring regions in the National Capital Region (NCR) showed similar trends. According to aqi.in, Noida recorded an AQI of 310, while Greater Noida stood at 289.