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After days of 'poor air quality', Delhi finally witnessed some improvement on Friday after rain lashed the national capital, providing respite to the residents.
The air quality, which had deteriorated to the 'very poor' category on Wednesday and Thursday, was recorded at 266 which falls in the poor category, according to the Centre-run System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor" and 401 and 500 "severe".
A senior official said the reason for improvement of air quality was the rainfall Thursday which lashed parts of the national capital, cleansing the air of the pollutants.
The PM10 level (presence of particles in the air with a diameter of less than 10 micrometres) in Delhi stood at 253 and the PM 2.5 level was recorded at 110, according to the SAFAR data.
On Thursday, the PM2.5 (presence of particles in the air with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres) touched a new high at 158. The PM2.5, also called "fine particulates," can be a matter of more serious health concern than PM10.
A Central Pollution Control Board official said a number of factors were responsible for the deteriorating air quality, including vehicular pollution and construction activities.
(With PTI inputs)
