Delhi sees dense fog, lowest minimum temperature of season; Chandigarh records worst air quality at 427
The city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far at 16.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal, according to the weather department. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) at 9 a.m. was 428, which falls in the ‘severe’ category.
Air pollution is likely to remain in the ‘severe’ category on Thursday and improve slightly to the ‘very poor’ category on Friday, according to official data.
An AQI of ‘severe’ category “affects” healthy people and “seriously impacts” those with existing diseases, according to the CPCB.
“Of 39 monitoring stations in Delhi, 32 recorded air quality in the ‘severe’ category, with readings above 400. These stations include Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, IGI Airport, ITO, Mandir Marg, North Campus, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, and Pusa among others,” an official said.
Delhi was the second “most polluted” major city in the world on Thursday morning, according to IQAir’s (a Swiss air quality technology company) live data for over 120 cities.
The city’s 24-hour AQI, recorded at 4 p.m. every day, stood at 418 on Wednesday, up from 334 the previous day.
Low visibility procedures were put in place at the Delhi airport for flight operations on Thursday morning due to bad weather conditions.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is the country’s busiest airport and handles around 1,400 flight movements daily.
“Low visibility procedures are in progress at Delhi airport. All flight operations are presently normal,” the airport operator DIAL said in a post on X at 7 am. It also requested passengers to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information.
“#6ETravelAdvisory : This morning, winter fog may impact flights to/from #Amritsar, #Varanasi & #Delhi,” IndiGo said in a post on X at 2.37 am.
On Wednesday, at least 10 flights were diverted and scores of flights were delayed due to low visibility conditions.
Chandigarh recorded the worst air quality in the country on Thursday, with its air quality index falling in the ‘severe’ category for the first time this season. The air quality in many parts of Haryana and Punjab was also recorded in the ‘ very poor’ category and the ‘poor’ bracket.
Chandigarh recorded its air quality index (AQI) at 427 at 12 noon, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app, which provides hourly updates.
The AQI was 460 at the ambient air quality monitoring station at Sector 22, 365 at Sector 25 and 455 at Sector 53 in the city, the data showed. Chandigarh’s air quality was worse than Delhi, which recorded its AQI at 424 at 12 noon, as per the data.
In a post on X, Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari urged UT Administrator and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria to consider shutting down all schools, especially for small children till the situation mitigates.
In Haryana, the AQI was 323 in Gurugram, 299 in Panchkula, 293 in Bahadurgarh, 289 in Hisar, 269 in Sonipat, 246 in Kaithal, 223 in Kurukshetra and 228 in Yamunanagar.
(With inputs from PTI)
Published - November 14, 2024 09:39 am IST
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