New Delhi: The residents of Delhi woke up to a foggy and chilly morning on Wednesday as the air quality slipped into the ‘unhealthy’ or ‘moderate’ category, while the air quality in other parts of the NCR has begun turning ‘poor’. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi was 152, while it was 159 in Ghaziabad. The visibility level was also as low as 350 metres in some parts of the capital due to the foggy weather.Also Read – Delhi Air Quality in 'Moderate' Category as Stage I of GRAP's Pollution Control Measures Begin
According to the official, visibility at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s primary weather station, had dropped to 600 metres and to 350 metres at the Palam weather station at 8.30 am. Also Read – Work From Home May Return in Delhi Soon. Deets Inside
This improved to 2,100 metres at Palam by 9 am and at Safdarjung by 10 am. At 9 am, the capital’s air quality index stood at 66, which falls in the “satisfactory” category. Also Read – No PUC, No Fuel: Delhi Makes Pollution Under Control Certificate Mandatory For Vehicles From Oct 25
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, then 401 and between 500 is considered “severe”.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted cloudy skies with light rains on Wednesday. The forecast comes a day after the temperature rose slightly following a break in the continuous rainfall that has been lashing the city last week. The cloud cover is likely to clear partly by Thursday, it said.
The minimum and maximum temperature readings on Wednesday are likely to settle at 21 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius respectively, according to the IMD forecast.
The rainfall recorded so far this month is around four times the normal rainfall of 28 mm and three times the precipitation (41.6 mm) recorded in August, which is the wettest month of monsoon.