Delhi’s Air Turns Very Poor as Haze and Fog Envelop City
New Delhi: A blanket of haze and fog enveloped Delhi on Thursday morning, trapping pollutants and pushing the city’s air quality into the “very poor” category after remaining “poor” for the last few days. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the national capital recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 357 compared to 279 a day ago.
The decline in air quality was accompanied by reduced visibility in several parts of the city, as fog and calm winds trapped pollutants close to the ground.
The Delhi Air Quality Early Warning System stated that the city’s ventilation index, which indicates the ability of the atmosphere to disperse pollutants, remained below the positive level of 6,000 m/s.
It was stated that weak winds below 10 km per hour and dense fog prevented the dispersion of pollutants and as a result, the sky became hazy.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported visibility of 1,000 meters at Palam and 800 meters at Safdarjung at 7.30 am, where winds were calm.
Areas like Kartavya Road, Anand Vihar, Burari and Akshardham were covered with fog in the early morning hours.
Vivek Vihar and Anand Vihar recorded “severe” air quality levels with AQI readings of 415 and 408 respectively. CPCB data showed that as many as 33 monitoring stations across Delhi reported “very poor” air quality with over 300 measurements.
According to the CPCB classification, an AQI of zero to 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 is ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 is ‘poor’, 301 to 400 is ‘very poor’ and 401 to 500 is ‘severe’.
The minimum temperature reached 20.1 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal, while the humidity stood at 90 percent at 8.30 am. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 30 degrees Celsius and shallow fog is expected in the evening hours, the IMD said.
