Delhi Recorded Clean Air for the First Time in 3 Yrs? No, Claim Is Misleading
The state has witnessed multiple instances of satisfactory air quality (51-100 AQI) in the past three years.
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A post is doing the rounds on social media platforms claiming that the people in Delhi witnessed clean air for the first time in three years, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) being around 85 in the state.
Who shared the claim?: The official X (formerly Twitter) account of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi shared the claim saying, "Delhiites breathed clean air for the first time in the last 3 years.
This post had garnered over seven lakh views on the platform. Archives of similar such claims could be found here, here, and here.
Is this claim true?: While Delhi did witness an AQI of 85 on 15 March 2025, the state has witnessed AQI level below 100 (satisfactory range) multiple times over the past three years. This makes the claim misleading.
About the AQI on 15 March 2025: On conducting a keyword search on Google, we found a news report published by The Indian Express on 15 March.
It said that Delhi witnessed cleanest air between 1 January and 15 March in the last three years with an AQI of 85. This was the first time the AQI fell within the 'satisfactory' range (51-100 AQI) in this year.
The report also mentioned that the state last saw a better AQI (of 76) on 29 September 2024.
As per a Press Information Bureau (PIB) press release, the AQI showed improvement due to "favourable winds, light rain/ drizzling and improved meteorological conditions prevailing in Delhi-NCR."
The release was shared on 15 March 2025.
(Source: PIB/Screenshot)
The official X handle of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), too, mentioned that the average AQI of 85 was the lowest in the last three years for the period from 1 January to 15 March.
Comparative report of AQI status in Delhi: We found a report published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on 14 March, which drew a comparison of AQI status in Delhi from 1 January to 14 March between 2016-2025.
It could be clearly seen that the state did not see one good (0-50) or satisfactory (51-100) AQI day in the aforementioned time frame.
Secondly, the trend has been quite similar over the year, with three years registering an exception in 2019, 2020, and 2022.
The report was published on 14 March 2025.
(Source: CPCB/Screenshot)
First instance of AQI being less than 100?: To verify this, we used the information shared in the Indian Express news report and checked the official CPCB website.
Delhi indeed witnessed an AQI of 76 (satisfactory) on 29 September 2024, which clearly indicated that the viral claim was misleading.
The AQI on this day was 76.
(Source: CPCB/Screenshot)
Team WebQoof looked further and found that Delhi saw an AQI below 100 on multiple other instances, such as 4, 5, 6, and 7 July 2024.
NDTV shared a report mentioning that the air quality remained in the 'satisfactory' category in the first week of July 2024, with the lowest at 56 on 7 July 2024.
The report further mentioned that the AQI had improved due to the weather.
(Swipe right to see all screenshots.)
AQI level was below 100 on this day.
AQI level was below 100 on this day.
AQI level was below 100 on this day.
AQI level was below 100 on this day.
Average AQI for Delhi in March: According to a press release in PIB in 2024, the CAQM had taken several steps that helped improve the air quality in Delhi.
This resulted in Delhi registering 209 days in 2024 with the AQI below 200.
It also contained a table which depicted month-wise average AQI for the state in March over the years.
The average air quality was 170 in 2023 and 176 for 2024.
The release was shared on 31 December 2024.
(Source:
Why is the claim misleading?: While it is true that Delhi witnessed the cleanest air quality between 1 January and 15 March for the first time in three years, the absence of a specific time frame in the viral claim makes it misleading.
Conclusion: It is evident that the claim of Delhi witnessing the cleanest air for the first time in three years is misleading.
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