The air pollution level has once again shot up in the national capital with further decline in the minimum temperature. The air quality in Delhi turned ‘very poor’ on Friday with AQI docking 312, according to the latest estimates updated by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). PM2.5 remains the lead pollutant.
The air quality in the national capital was in the ‘satisfactory’ category continuously for three days from January 9 to January 11, while it slipped to the ‘moderate’ category on January 12.
Meanwhile, the air quality in Noida and Gurugram is in the ‘poor’ category. The AQI in Noida stands at 262, while Gurugram’s AQI is at 256.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 6 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average. The met department has forecast a high of 19 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.
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“The city will witness dense fog in the morning on Friday and Saturday. The maximum and minimum temperatures on Friday will hover around 19 and 6 degrees Celsius respectively,” the IMD said.
Moderate fog is expected on Sunday, it said.
Several flights are expected to be delayed due to the fog conditions in the national capital. The Delhi International Airport issued an alert asking passengers to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information.
As many as 100 flights were delayed due to the fog conditions on runways at the Delhi airport, dropping visibility to around 50-100 metres between 4.30am and 9.30am on Thursday. Officials, however, said that no flights were cancelled or diverted.
As per the government agencies, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
The weatherman has forecast cold wave conditions over Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and north Rajasthan during next two days.
(With inputs from agencies)
