This read-only gauge reports the count of Degraded Minutes accumulated so far within the current, in-progress 15-minute interval on the link interface. An operator watches this alongside the current ES and SES counters to build a live picture of how the link is performing right now, before the interval closes and the figures roll into the historical table. For example, a current interval showing rising DMs but zero UASs would suggest an ongoing mild degradation that hasn't yet escalated into an actual outage.