Capital sees best AQI for Jan-Feb in 3 years

Delhi recorded its lowest Air Quality Index (AQI) of 2025 on Friday (February 28), with an average AQI of 121, as per the daily AQI bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

This marks a significant improvement in the Capital’s air quality, making it the lowest AQI recorded in the months of January and February over the past three years.

According to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Delhi’s air quality has shown notable improvement this February, with the city’s monthly average AQI recorded at 214 — its lowest ever. This surpasses the previous best of 220 in February 2024 and 225 in February 2022.

A CAQM official said: “The average AQI recorded up to February 28, 2025, stands at 262, making it the second-best in recorded history for this period, only behind 2022, when it was 253.”

Further highlighting the trend of improvement, the CAQM noted that the number of ‘Good to Moderate’ air quality days (AQI below 200) in January and February stood at 14 in 2025, matching the figures from 2024. This is a substantial increase compared to previous years — six days in 2018, 12 in 2019, nine in 2020, four in 2021, 15 in 2022 and 12 in 2023.

Meanwhile, the national capital witnessed rain on Friday evening. The Weather Department has forecast partly cloudy sky for Saturday.