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Delhi pollution continues with ‘very poor’ air; red alert for dense fog today
Delhi's air quality settled at 385 on Tuesday morning with the general visibility of 350 metres. IMD issued an alert for dense to moderate fog in the city.
Delhi's air quality on Tuesday remained in the ‘very poor’ category with a dense fog taking over the city. The Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 385 as of 6 am.
On Monday, the overall 24-hour average AQI stood at 401, falling in the ‘severe’ category. As per the India Meteorological Department, the general visibility of Delhi at 6:30 in the morning was 350 metres.
The IMD also issued a fog alert for the night of December 29 and the morning of December 30. It sounded a warning for dense to very dense fog expected in Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and parts of the Northeast, East, and North India.
The weather panel also issued a red alert for dense fog for Tuesday, HT reported earlier.
Airlines issue advisory
Low visibility around Delhi led to IndiGo Airlines releasing a Travel Advisory warning of possible flight disruptions. It said the visibility is expected to reduce across Delhi, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ranchi, Kolkata and others.
A similar advisory was released by Air India for Delhi and parts of northern India. It said that flight schedules to and from Delhi are likely to be affected. Delhi Airport also issued a warning for possible flight disruptions a day before. However, on Tuesday, it said that flight operations are running smoothly as the visibility improved.
Regional Meteorological Department's nowcast warning showed an orange and yellow alert issued for Delhi for moderate to dense fog on Tuesday. A yellow alert was issued in west, northwest and north Delhi, while the orange alert was for the south, northeast and central Delhi. The temperature was recorded at 10 degrees Celsius at 6:30 in the morning.
Earlier on Monday, over 550 flights were delayed, and at least 130 were cancelled at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport due to low visibility, HT reported.
Fog intensity may reduce
The Met department said that while the intensity of fog may marginally reduce on Tuesday, dense fog is still likely during the early hours till January 1. They said that the wind speed is likely to improve on Tuesday.
Delhi's air quality remained in the ‘severe’ category for the eighth day on Monday. The 24-hour average stood at 401, up from the 390 recorded on Sunday. The average AQI of December so far has been 349, inching closer to becoming the most polluted December since 2018, when the AQI was 360.
