Delhi: Dense fog engulfs capital, AQI slips to ‘very poor’, flight delays likely

The air quality in the national capital slipped from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘very poor’ category in less than a week.

A dense layer of fog engulfed Delhi on Friday morning as the air quality deteriorated from 'moderate' to 'very poor' category amid cold wave conditions. The national capital recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) at 312, according to the morning bulletin of System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

Delhi last reported about one hour of dense fog on December 29.

The air quality in the national capital remained in the 'satisfactory' category for three days from January 9 to January 11, but slipped to the 'moderate' category on January 12.

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.

The minimum and maximum temperature on Friday is expected to be around 6 and 17 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the air quality in Noida and Gurugram is in the 'poor' category. The AQI in Noida as of this morning was at 262, while Gurugram's AQI was at 256.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted cold wave conditions over Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and north Rajasthan during next two days.