India, July 13 -- For the first time in 16 days, Delhi's air quality dropped into the "moderate" category on Saturday, despite light rain and cloudy weather on the day and over the past few days in the National Capital Region (NCR). The temperature also slightly rose on Saturday.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) on Saturday was 105 (moderate) at 4pm, a deterioration from 79 (satisfactory) on Friday and 59 on Thursday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's daily national bulletin. The last time Delhi's AQI was in the moderate category was June 25 - from June 26 to July 11, AQI was in the "satisfactory" category.

Forecasts by Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi predict that AQI will return to the...