Delhi's air quality in May this year was the poorest for the month in the last three years, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data.
Experts attributed the poor air quality to the lack of rainfall in the first half of the month.
The city received just 1.4 mm of rainfall from May 1 to May 20, according to the India Meteorological Department.
Delhi recorded an average air quality index (AQI) of 212 this year as against 144 in 2021 and 143 in 2020.
It saw 21 days of "poor" air quality in 2022 as compared to three in 2021 and just two in 2020.
The capital had only one day of "satisfactory" air quality this time as against six in 2021 and four in 2020.
"Moderate" air quality days also dipped to nine as compared to 22 such days last year.
An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe', while the AQI above 500 falls in the 'severe plus' category.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
TEMPO, a collaborative space mission by NASA, NOAA, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, is transforming air quality tracking across North America. Since 2023, it has delivered hourly, high-resolution pollution data from space, aiding researchers, health officials, and the public.
The Delhi government has rolled back a contentious order denying fuel to 'end of life' cars - the term for petrol vehicles registered over 15 years ago and diesel vehicles more than 10 years.
India's demographic health survey 2019-21 reveals that 13 per cent of children were born prematurely, and 17 per cent with a low weight at birth, with air pollution contributing to the adverse birth outcomes.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 25.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the weather office predicting light to moderate rain.
Cloud seeding is generally considered moderately effective, with studies and real-world programmes showing it can increase rainfall under the right conditions.
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