Delhi pollution: Is air quality in the Indian capital now improving?

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▼ Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, made this claim in a recent tweet, adding that there was more work to do to reduce toxic air in the Indian capital.
Delhi has had a very serious air pollution problem for some years, often at its worst in the winter months.
In November 2018, levels reached 20 times the recommended World Heath  Organisation's safe limits for air pollution.
It's been caused by growing volumes of traffic, construction and industrial activity, the burning of rubbish and crops, the use of fireworks during religious festivals and weather patterns which can trap polluted air in the lower atmosphere for long periods of time.
What has improved?
Mr Kejriwal did not specify which type of pollution he was referring to when he talked about a 25% reduction.
But official data studied by Delhi-based research group, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), shows that the average levels of one of the worst pollutants, the small PM2.5 particles, were 25% lower during the three years from 2016-18, than during the period 2012-14.
The CSE also notes that during that period:
*.the daily peak levels of PM2.5 have got lower
*.the number of severely polluted days has reduced
*.the number of days with lower PM2.5 pollution has increased
There have been various measures adopted in recent years by the municipal authorities in Delhi to tackle pollution: converting vehicles to cleaner fuel, restricting vehicle use at specific times, banning the use of polluting industrial fuel, prohibiting the entry of the dirtiest vehicles into the city and closing some power stations.
Delhi's PM2.5 levels are going down
Annual average across all monitoring stations
Source: CSE report (using official data)
And there have also been measures taken by the national government, such as opening two major periphery roads east and west of Delhi to take heavy goods traffic away from the capital - as well as introducing new fuel emissions standards.
However, the CSE report points out that Delhi still has to reduce its current PM2.5  concentrations by 65% to meet national  clean air targets.
Their analysis of official pollution data for 2018 shows that the Delhi-wide average concentration of PM2.5 last year was 115 micrograms per cubic metre.
The national standard is set at 40, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has an annual average guideline of just 10 micrograms per cubic metre.
The WHO says "small particulate pollution has health impacts even at very low concentrations".
What about other pollutants? (▪ ▪ ▪)

► Please, continue reading this article here: Source

asr335704

Yes, this year pollution has reduced in Delhi. However actual test will be winter season in Delhi. That is the time when stubble burning covers entire Delhi atmosphere and pollution levels increase.

If Delhi manage to reduce pollution for next 2-3 years continuously, then Delhi has done a pretty good job in this area and will set a great example for other major cities in India.