Delhi’s air remains ‘severe’; minimum temperature recorded at 7.6°C

The air quality of the city has seen a steady deterioration since December 15 due to a drop in wind speed and interference of a western disturbance

Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) remained ‘severe’ after the national Capital was enveloped under a thick banket of haze on Wednesday morning. The visibility also dropped to 50metres in the earky hours of the day. The India Meteorological department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Thursday and Friday.

The India Meteorological department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Thursday and Friday. (ANI photo)

The AQI was recorded at 441 (severe) at 9am on Thursday, with barely any change from the 24-hour average AQI of 443 (severe) at 4pm on Tuesday.

The air quality of the city has seen a steady deterioration since December 15 due to a drop in wind speed and interference of a western disturbance.

Along with severe levels of pollution, the city has been seeing a thick blanket of fog again in the early hours.

According to IMD, Safdarjung visibility dropped down from 150m at 5:30am to 50m at 6:30am. Palam recorded moderate fog since 5am, with visibility dropping to 300m at 6:30am.

“Relatively calmer winds were compared over Safdarjung, as compared to Palam, which might be the reason for lower visibility over Safdarjung. Moderate to dense fog conditions are likely to continue in the morning hours of January 19 and 20, with partly cloudy skies during daytime,” said Krishna Mishra, scientist at IMD.

Visibility at Safdarjung improved to 100m by 7:30am and further to 200m by 8:30am, with wind speed consistent at 4kmph.

The minimum also saw a further rise with Wednesday’s minimum recorded at 7.6°C, one degree below the normal for this time of the year, and 1.7°C more than Tuesday’s 5.9°C.