Air pollution jumps in Delhi, rain expected around February 5

NEW DELHI: In a bad news for people living in Delhi, the levels of air pollution in the national capital has again increases and air quality index (AQI) at several places are now under the very poor category. 

State-run SAFAR said that the AQI was 319 on Thursday morning, ANI reported. Experts maintain that the  air pollution in Delhi is expected to touch upon the `hazardous` level in the next two to three days. They added that the situation would improve only after rainfall on February 5.

The AQI at Dhirpur was 333 while in Pitampura area it was in `very poor` category at 341.

The AQI between the range of 51 to 100 comes under satisfactory, 101-200 falls under moderate, 201-300 is in poor category. 300-400 is considered as `very poor`, while 401-500 falls under the `hazardous` category.

The AQI near Pusa Road, Airport Terminal 3 and Chandni Chowk was recorded at 329, 301 and 338 respectively.

Private weather forecasting agency Skymet Weather has predicted that on January 31 and February 1, the minimum temperature in Delhi would remain around 9 degree Celsius and maximums could settle between 22-23 degree Celsius. 

"The moment Western Disturbance would start shifting eastward, winds from the North would once again start blowing over the plains which might bring down the minimums in and around 7-8 degree Celsius. However, between February 4 and 7, there’s a possibility that the mercury would once again go up and minimums might settle around 10 degree Celsius," it added.

According to India Meteorological Department, the minimum and maximum temperatures on Thursday are hovering at 7 degree Celsius and 19 degree Celsius respectively.

Thick fog across Delhi has led to the rescheduling of many trains coming towards Delhi. Trains like Bhubneshwar-New Delhi Durunto Express, Dibrugarh-Delhi Junction Brahmaputra Mail were delayed by 2 hours each. While, Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express, Gaya New Delhi Mahabodhi Express, Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar-Vikramshilla were delayed by 4 hours, 3.30 hours and 2.30 hours respectively. 

(with agency inputs)