NEW DELHI: The air quality index (AQI) of the national capital improved slightly as the AQI of the city (average of past 24 hours) recorded on Sunday was at 314 index value, which comes into very poor category, according to data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The major pollutant identified was PM2.5. On Saturday, the AQI of Delhi recorded was at 353 index value (very poor).
On Sunday, the air quality of NCR areas recorded showed improvement from Saturday, except for Faridabad.The AQI recorded in the neighboring areas of Delhi was in the poor category with Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Noida and Gurugram recording an AQI of 295, 240, 298, 277 and 242 respectively. On Saturday, the AQI recorded for Faridabad was 272 (poor), Ghaziabad was 270 (poor), Greater Noida was 324 (very poor), Noida was 322 (very poor) and Gurugram was 258 (poor).
As the winter season has set in, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMD), New Delhi, has predicted a decrease in minimum temperature in the coming days as the minimum temperature will hover between 8 degrees Celsius and 10 degrees Celsius for the next five days. The maximum temperature will be around 23 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius for the same period.
As per the information from the weather department,moderate to dense fog may occur till December 5 and the visibility will be around 500 to 200 meters.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that the fog may lead to difficulty in driving vehicles and even trains and flights may get delayed, diverted or canceled.
Further, it is expected that fog may become lighter from December 6 to 8, with chances of moderate rain. In moderate fog, the visibility is between 499m to 200m and in dense fog the visibility is around 199m to 50m. The maximum and minimum temperature for Monday will be 24 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius respectively.
The IMD has also said that due to the effect of La Nina, this year the winter will be less chilly and the temperature will be higher than normal.The city witnessed the first dense fog of the season on Saturday morning and the visibility in many Delhi-NCR areas was less than 200 meters. Over 15 flights were diverted to other cities.
The IMD has predicted generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle by mid-night, following moderate to dense fog from December 4-9.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.’
Trains and flights may get delayed by fog
The Indian Meteorological Department stated that the fog may lead to difficulty in driving vehicles and even trains and flights may get delayed, diverted or canceled.Further, it is expected that fog may become lighter from December 6 to 8, with chances of moderate rain. In moderate fog, the visibility is between 499m to 200m and in dense fog the visibility is around 199m to 50m.
