Finally, Northwesterlies arrive to blow away smog in Chandigarh
The AQI bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reflected a drop of over 100 points between Thursday and Friday
The city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) began to improve on Friday, easing from “severe” to “very poor” levels, thanks to the return of Northwesterly winds, as reported by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
While the winds aren’t strong, their cool breeze is helping disperse pollutants present in the air. But though the air quality has shown some relief, it still remains very poor (300-400) and can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. Hence, caution is advised.
The AQI bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reflected a drop of over 100 points between Thursday and Friday.
The mean AQI of Chandigarh, taking the average of the three CPCB stations at 4 pm, slid to 309 as compared to 412 the previous day.
A lower AQI, at 290, was last recorded only on November 7, following which the escalating pollution crisis kept the mean AQI figure over 300 for seven days straight, placing the City Beautiful among the top 5 most polluted cities of the country on multiple days.
On Friday, the 100-point drop in AQI brought Chandigarh down to the 15th spot among 214 cities, with Delhi continuing to be the most polluted at 396.
Further improvement expected: IMD
Giving details, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, “With the Western Disturbance (WD) system active in the previous days abating, Northwesterly winds are making a comeback. These winds aren’t very fast, but help break the temperature inversion cycle prevailing in the city and disperse the pollutants. It can take a few days, but further improvement is expected.”
While the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee had been urging people not to burst crackers on Gurpurb, as per IMD, if Northwesterly winds sustain, they will keep the pollution in check. Since the AQI reading is taken over the past 24 hours, any spike in pollution levels on Friday night will be visible on Saturday, as following Diwali on October 31, when the air crisis first began.
IMD submits report to CPCC for further action plan
IMD has also submitted a report for the weather forecast in the coming days to the CPCC for its consideration regarding the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in place due to the deteriorating air quality of the city. Since AQI had soared to severe (above 401) on Wednesday and Thursday, further restrictions under GRAP could be put in place to improve the air quality.
IMD has noted in its report that Northwesterly winds have now started. For the next stage of restrictions, there should be no scope of improvement in the AQI for at least the next two days, but it is now unlikely to be put in place, as confirmed by CPCC member secretary TC Nautiyal.
Nautiyal added that current GRAP restrictions, like ban on diesel generator sets and sprinkling by the municipal corporation, were still in place. They will continue to monitor the AQI and if it shows further improvement, these restrictions can also be removed.
Visibility falls to 0 at airport
Due to the thick layer of smog on the intervening night between Thursday and Friday, visibility dropped to 0 metres at the Chandigarh airport at 8.30 am, categorised as “very dense fog” by IMD and the first such case this season.
Speaking about this, Paul said cases of zero visibility were mostly recorded only during peak winter days of December and January. Hence, it was concerning.
While air quality may improve further due to the Northwesterly winds, chances of smog will continue for the next couple of days as pollutants gradually disperse, Paul shared.
Smog delays 40 flights
The dense smog caused significant disruption at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport on Friday, delaying 40 flights, redirecting three and cancelling one.
The poor visibility left passengers stranded and frustrated as delays spanned multiple destinations.
Morning delays were particularly severe, with flights to Mumbai delayed by six hours, Delhi by six hours and 20 minutes, Goa by six hours, Chennai by seven hours, and Bengaluru by five and a half hours.
IndiGo’s flight 6E-242 from Pune and flight 6E-6633 from Bengaluru were redirected to Jaipur, while flight 6E-1417 from Abu Dhabi was re-routed to Delhi. In total, the airport reported delays in the arrival of 15 flights and departure of 25 flights.
Afternoon operations also remained affected, with IndiGo’s Bengaluru-bound flight delayed by three hours and Air India’s Mumbai service delayed by two hours. Notably, Air India flight AI-2638 to Delhi was cancelled.
Additional delays were reported on routes to Patna, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Delhi. Flights to Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore and Srinagar also faced delays. Incoming flights from different locations were also delayed.