New Delhi, July 31 -- Propelled by regular rainfall on 23 of 31 days this month, the Capital has recorded its cleanest air for the month of July over the past 10 years, according to data shared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Until July 30, the monthly average air quality index (AQI) has been 79, which is classified as "satisfactory", according to the CPCB. The average AQI in July 2024 was 96, and in July 2023, it was 83.67. To be sure, CPCB began calculating AQI from April 2015. CPCB classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as "good", between 51 and 100 as "satisfactory", between 101 and 200 as "moderate", between 201 and 300 as "poor", between 301 and 400 as "very poor", and over 400 as "severe". The highest AQI average in July was 145.64, recorded in 2016. The average AQI for July in 2022 was 87.29; 110.06 in 2021; 83.80 in 2020; 134 in 2019; 103.83 in 2018; 98.39 in 2017; and 138.13 in 2015. In July 2025, until the 30th, Delhi recorded 28 "satisfactory" air days and two "moderate" air days. The best AQI recorded this month was 51-on the brink of good air-on July 15, and the worst was 136, recorded on July 26. In July 2024, Delhi recorded 14 "moderate" air days and 17 "satisfactory" air days, with the highest AQI, at 138, recorded on July 11. The lowest AQI recorded in July last year was 56, clocked between July 8 and 9. Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, on July 23, said that Delhi was on its way to record its cleanest July in a decade. He had said, "This is not a seasonal blip - it is the result of Delhi's multi-agency implementation model, continuous landfill action, intensified sweeping operations, and a clear commitment to outcome-based governance." Providing data on the same, officials had said that Delhi had been witnessing a major turnaround in its air quality, with 2025 already having clocked 118 days of "good", "satisfactory" or "moderate" air quality - matching the total number recorded in all of 2024, as of July 23....