Delhiites breathe easy as air quality improves to 'moderate' after rains

New Delhi: In a major relief for the people in the national capital, the air quality improved to "moderate" and even "satisfactory" at some places on Thursday, a day after mild showers were witnessed across the city.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), major pollutants PM 10 and PM 2.5 were both at 92 in Dhirpur area.

The air quality index standards for PM 10 and PM 2.5 at Lodhi was at 105 and 86, respectively. The same was 110 and 90 at IIT, Delhi, and 123 and 158 at Delhi University.

In Chandni Chowk, one of the most crowded areas of the capital, the AQI was 151 while the same was 110 at the airport, both of which fall under 'moderate' category.

In Haryana's Gurugram the AQI docked at 109 this morning.

Last week, as many as 400 fire personnel were deployed to spray over five lakh litres of water in the city in a bid to tackle air pollution.

The national capital region has been reeling under harmful levels of air pollution ever since Diwali, majorly owing to stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 is 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 is marked as 'severe/hazardous'.