The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Sunday said the average daily Air Quality Index (AQI) for Delhi during the entire year 2023 has been the best so far since 2018 and even before that, barring 2020, which saw an exceptional AQI owing to continued spells of lockdown and low anthropogenic activities round the year.

The daily average AQI for Delhi during the year 2023 was 204. In the year 2021 and 2022, the daily average AQI for the city was 209.

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In 2018, the daily average AQI for Delhi was 225, in the year 2019, it was 215 while in the year 2020 it was 185.

The year 2023 also witnessed much lower levels of episodic events like farm burnings during paddy harvesting season, bursting of crackers during religious festivals and marriages/celebrations etc, the Ministry said.

However, the benefit attributable to the same in Delhi’s AQI, was nullified owing to much adverse climatic, meteorological, low temperature and calm wind conditions in the region, impeding effective dispersion of the pollutants and resulting in a spike in the daily average AQI during the winter months in particular. Despite these factors, the overall daily average AQI during the year has been the best so far.

With persistent field level efforts and targeted policy initiatives for quantified results in the short/ medium/ long term, it is expected that the air quality scenario over Delhi will see further gradual but marked improvement, year on year.

The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), since its inception in 2021, through a series of firm steps, has initiated various policy measures and field actions towards abatement of air pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Ministry said.

Continual and concerted efforts of all the stakeholders round the year also in 2023 have further helped to improve the general air quality parameters in Delhi as compared to the past few years (barring the periods of very low anthropogenic, industrial and commercial activities during the Covid affected year 2020, owing to complete lockdowns and other restrictions), pursuant to various preventive and mitigative field actions through numerous statutory directions and orders of the Commission, covering all major sectors contributing to the overall air quality.