New Delhi: The capital city of Delhi got a much-needed respite from the smog that had enveloped it for over 10 days, as rain lashed the city on Friday morning. The rain, which started on Thursday night, improved the air quality significantly and cleared the haze. The air quality index (AQI), which measures the level of pollution in the air, showed a sharp decline in the 24 hours. Many parts of the city recored AQI levels below 100.


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The Safdarjung observatory observatory recorded 6 mm of rainfall during this period. The Met department data also showed that most parts of Delhi received light rain. The rain also brought relief to the neighbouring areas of Noida, Gurugram and others where AQI dropped below 100 too.


The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier forecasted a slight improvement in the air quality before Diwali, due to favourable weather conditions, including rain. The IMD officials had also said that a change in the wind direction from northwest to southeast, caused by a fresh western disturbance affecting northwest India, will reduce the impact of smoke from stubble burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana.


The wind speed will also increase from around five to six kilometres per hour currently to around 15 kilometres per hour on November 11, after the western disturbance passes, which will help disperse the pollutants before Diwali (November 12), an IMD official said. Last year, the city had avoided becoming a gas chamber after Diwali, due to a combination of factors, such as a decrease in stubble-burning incidents, delayed spells of rain, an early Diwali, and favourable weather conditions.


According to data from the Decision Support System, a numerical model-based framework that can identify the sources of particulate matter pollution in Delhi, stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana contributed 38 per cent of the air pollution in Delhi on Wednesday. It was 33 per cent on Thursday and is likely to be 16 per cent on Friday.


The data also shows that transport is another major factor, contributing 12 to 14 per cent to Delhi’s dirty air. In view of the worsening air pollution, the city government is planning to induce artificial rain on November 20-21 through cloud seeding. A proposal in this regard will be submitted to the Supreme Court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions on the air pollution issue, on Friday.


The government on Wednesday rescheduled the December winter break of all schools. The winter break in the schools will now be from November 9 to November 18. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the entry of app-based taxis into the national capital has been banned as per the Supreme Court’s orders.


He also said the odd-even car-rationing scheme will be implemented in the city after the top court reviews its effectiveness and issues an order. The matter will be heard on Friday. On Tuesday, the apex court questioned the effectiveness of the Delhi government’s car-rationing scheme, aimed at curbing vehicular pollution, and called it “all optics”.


Anticipating further deterioration of the air quality post-Diwali, Rai had on Monday announced that the flagship scheme, which allows cars to operate on alternate days based on the odd or even last digit of their registration numbers, would be enforced between November 13 and November 20. Doctors say breathing in the polluted air of Delhi is equivalent to the harmful effects of smoking about 10 cigarettes a day.


Prolonged exposure to high levels of pollution can cause or worsen respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and dramatically increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, they said. Stringent restrictions mandated under the final stage of the Centre’s air pollution control plan for Delhi-NCR – Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) – have also been implemented in the national capital. The restri