Delhi’s air ‘severe’ again, Noida emerges as the most polluted city in the country

The air quality in the Capital had improved last week and the AQI dropped below 300 after remaining in the ‘Very Poor’ to ‘Severe’ range for weeks. The last time Delhi recorded ‘Severe’ air quality before Monday was on December 23.

Visibility dropped sharply during early morning hours due to dense fog, with Safdarjung station, which is the Capital’s base station, recording visibility as low as 50 metres for several hours before it improved gradually. Light winds, mostly from the westerly to northwesterly direction, and partly cloudy skies with smog and shallow fog prevailed through the day on Monday — conditions considered unfavourable for pollutant dispersion.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD), has issued an orange alert for Tuesday, warning of moderate fog at many places and dense to very dense fog at a few in the morning. A yellow alert has been issued for Wednesday owing to a forecast of moderate fog.

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune forecast suggests that the air quality is likely to remain ‘Very Poor’ in Delhi up to December 31 and it is expected to deteriorate to the ‘Severe’ category on January 1. The outlook for the subsequent six days also indicates ‘Very Poor’ air in the city.

According to the IMD, the maximum temperature in the Capital on Monday stood near normal at 20.3 degree Celsius, while the minimum of 8.3 degrees was 1.5 notches above normal. The IITM’s Air Quality and Weather Bulletin for Delhi noted a rise in the minimum temperature by 1-4 degree Celsius, while maximum temperature remained largely unchanged during the same period. The minimum temperatures were reported to be 1.6-3 degrees above normal at most locations.