Rain gain for Chandigarh's air quality

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 16

The rain late last evening improved the air quality of the city drastically, bringing it to the “good to satisfactory” level.

‘AQI dropped to 55’

Due to rain and a ban on crackers, the AQI dropped to 55 in 24 hours. It is the lowest AQI recorded after the lockdown when it had dropped to 25. However, such a low AQI has not been recorded during the festive season since 2011 when we first started evaluating it at the Sector 25 station. – Ravindra Khaiwal, Addl Prof, Environment Health, PGI

In the past 24 hours, the air quality index (AQI) was between 40 and 55 — as recorded at the real-time monitoring station in Sector 25. On Diwali, it was 140, while last year on the festival, it was 341.

“Due to rain and a ban on crackers, the AQI dropped to 55 in 24 hours. It is the lowest AQI recorded after the lockdown when it had dropped to 25. However, such a low AQI has not been recorded during the festive season since 2011 when we first started evaluating it at the Sector 25 station,” said Ravindra Khaiwal, Additional Professor of Environment Health, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGI.

The AQI value was 25 in March-end and early-April when the lockdown was imposed across the country. The region did not witness rain for the past two months. So, the AQI was moderate.

“The rain has cleared all accumulated pollution. The dust will remain settled for the next few days now. The AQI will be at the satisfactory level and after November 20, it will reach the moderate level,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Met Department recorded 15.1 mm of rainfall, the first in the season. The next three days are expected to see a clear sky. The maximum temperature fell from 28°C to 24°C today, four degrees below normal.