Delhi Air Quality Improves as October Rainfall Breaks Records

Delhi’s air quality improved sharply in October 2026, but the evidence points more strongly to unusual weather conditions than to a decisive change in the city’s pollution system. The month recorded the cleanest October air in the past decade by one measure, while rainfall reached levels not seen in four years and temperatures fell to an October record at the Safdarjung weather station.

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air recorded Delhi’s average Air Quality Index at 167 in October 2026. That was the lowest October average since 2015, when the average AQI was recorded at 264. The improvement was substantial compared with recent years: the October average was 223 in 2025, 234 in 2024, 219 in 2023 and 210 in 2022.

Yet the month was not uniformly clean. Delhi recorded five days in the ‘poor’ air-quality category, three days in the ‘satisfactory’ category and 22 days in the ‘moderate’ category during October, according to the figures reported by Live Hindustan. The highest AQI of the month was 245 on 21 October, placing the city in the poor category.