Shallow fog engulfs Delhi as AQI stays in ‘poor’ category

The India Meteorological Department has predicted the minimum temperature to dip to around 9 degrees on Thursday

Early morning fog engulfed some parts of Delhi on Thursday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) staying in the higher end of the ‘poor’ category at 291 around 7am.

Cold and smoggy conditions in South Delhi on Thursday morning. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The 24-hour average AQI in the city has been ‘poor’ since Tuesday, though it appears to be gradually increasing now.

Delhi’s AQI was poor last on November 29, when light rain across the city brought it down to 290 on the day. The AQI has not touched ‘severe’ since November 24, when it was 415.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 9.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday – two degrees less than the previous day. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the minimum to dip further to around 9 degrees on Thursday.

IMD officials said that except for a marginal increase in temperature due to an expected western disturbance, the temperature will continue to drop over this week.