Season’s first dense fog envelops Ghaziabad, AQI also deteriorates

Commuters said that areas near Sector 62 in Noida, DME, Lal Kuan intersection, Mohan Nagar, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Delhi-Meerut Road and GT Road were badly affected by dense fog

Ghaziabad on Monday morning witnessed the first dense fog of the season, which engulfed major roads and highways across the district. Officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) estimated that there was a reduction in visibility to about 150-200 metres due to the severity of the fog.

The IMD also said that similar weather conditions may prevail in the district for the next five days. (Sakib Ali/ HT)

The IMD also said that similar weather conditions may prevail in the district for the next five days.

Commuters faced major issues while going to their offices on Monday morning as dense fog prevailed on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Delhi-Meerut Road and GT Road.

“There was very poor visibility around 7am to 8am and office goers had to drive their vehicles by turning the headlights on. This was the first dense fog of the season and hazy weather prevailed till 11am,” said Vikrant Sharma, a resident of Raj Nagar Extension.

Commuters said that areas near Sector 62 in Noida, DME, Lal Kuan intersection, Mohan Nagar, Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Delhi-Meerut Road and GT Road were badly affected by dense fog.

“The visibility was almost zero till 11am on Monday and almost nothing was visible beyond 20 metres. We had to turn on the fog lamps and driving was risky. The areas along the river Hindon and the Hindon canal (near Vasundhara and Indirapuram) were badly impacted. The condition also led to slow movement of traffic,” said Abhishek Singh, a resident of Siddharth Vihar.

“Due to moisture and light wind blowing at lower tropospheric levels over the Indo-Gangetic plains, dense to very dense fog in many/some pockets is likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the night/morning hours during the next three days and dense fog in isolated pockets for the subsequent two days,” the IMD said in a statement.

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UP-PCB) said that very low wind speed has also led to slow dispersal of pollutants and this has spiked the air quality index (AQI) in Ghaziabad as well.

“The wind speed has reduced considerably and the developing meteorological conditions along with lower temperatures have also impacted the AQI in Ghaziabad and adjoining Gautam Budh Nagar,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UP-PCB.

According to the AQI bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI of Ghaziabad city spiked to 373 under the “very poor” category on Monday. On Sunday, the city recorded an AQI of 354.

The AQI was 285 under the “poor” category on Saturday, while it was 184 under the “moderate” category on Friday.

The AQI levels also deteriorated in Noida during the past four days.

Noida’s AQI was recorded at 377 under the “very poor” category on Monday. The city recorded an AQI of 328 on Sunday, while it was 288 under the “poor” category on Saturday and 154 under the “moderate” category on Friday.

The AQI of Greater Noida shot to 442 under the “severe” category on Monday.

A forecast by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) said that the deterioration in the AQI is due to “the occurrence of radiative fog as a result of low temperature and nearly saturated (>95%) relative humidity.”

“The air quality is likely to deteriorate but will be within the “very poor” category for the next three days due to relatively low temperatures and moderate wind speed, resulting in weak to moderate dispersion of pollutants,” the forecast said.