Dense fog in Delhi as minimum temp drops to 6°C; AQI worsens to ‘severe’ category

The minimum temperature, meanwhile, saw a slight increase and was recorded at 6°C, 0.9 degrees below the normal and 1.2 degrees above the minimum recorded a day before

Dense fog enveloped the national Capital Delhi on Friday morning as visibility dropped to zero at Palam around 4:30am. Delhi’s air quality also deteriorated to ‘severe’ category as the air quality index (AQI) remained 408 at 9am on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website.

The maximum temperature is expected to see a dip on Friday and the weekend as well. (PTI photo)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for the day. A yellow alert has been issued for Saturday as well, with forecasts suggesting the possibility of light rain, accompanied by thunderstorms at isolated places in the city.

The minimum temperature, meanwhile, saw a slight increase and was recorded at 6°C, 0.9 degrees below the normal and 1.2 degrees above the minimum recorded a day before.

“The maximum is expected to see a dip on Friday and the weekend as well. The minimum might see a slight rise,” said an IMD official.

According to IMD forecast, light rain or drizzle might continue till Sunday, but no alert has been issued for that day. The maximum is forecast to be around 20°C on Friday and 17°C on Saturday.

Delhi’s air, meanwhile, deteriorated further on Friday and was ‘severe’ at 9 am, as wind speeds continued to remain low in the region.

Delhi’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 357 (very poor) at 4pm on Thursday. It was 297 (poor) a day earlier at the same time.

Delhi’s air quality had deteriorated sharply on Thursday, forcing the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR to invoke stage-3 measures of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect. This effectively bans private construction and demolition (C&D) and imposes restrictions on old private four wheelers once again.

“Forecasts from the IMD and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) also suggest a likelihood of the average AQI of Delhi to particularly remain in this adverse range for a few days owing to unfavourable meteorological conditions,” CAQM said in a statement on Thursday, stating it held an emergency meeting in the evening and decided to invoke stage-3 measures again.

Stage-3 was last invoked on January 3, but was revoked on January 5 as air quality showed an improvement again.

Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) meanwhile shows Delhi’s AQI is expected to remain ‘very poor’ till Saturday before improving to the ‘poor’ range on Sunday, following light rain in the city.