Dense fog engulfs Delhi, AQI improves to 'moderate' category

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: The national capital and other parts of the country witnessed dense fog and cold wave on Saturday (February 5, 2022) morning leading to poor visibility, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD). 

A thick layer of fog engulfed Delhi today morning, resulting in extremely reduced visibility. The data recorded by the national weather forecasting agency stated that the visibility in Delhi’s Palam, Punjab`s Amritsar and Uttar Pradesh`s Agra was at 50 meters at 8:30 am today. 

#WATCH | Dense fog engulfs Delhi this morning. Visuals from IGI Airport.

As per Delhi Airport's update issued at 7:26 am, while landing & take-offs continue, flights that are not CAT IIIA compliant may get affected. Passengers are requested to contact the airline concerned. pic.twitter.com/2vaTB00pnb — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

“Observations of 0830 hrs IST, shows dense fog is persisting over Delhi (Palam 50m & Safdarjung 100m). Dense to very dense fog over Punjab (Bhiwani 25m; Amritsar, Bhatinda, Hisar 50). Dense fog over Uttar Pradesh (Agra 50m, Lucknow 100m),” said IMD in a tweet. 

Observations of 0830 hrs IST, shows dense fog is persisting over Delhi (Palam 50m & Safdarjung 100m). Dense to very dense fog over Punjab & Haryana (Bhiwani 25m; Amritsar, Bhatinda, Hisar 50). Dense fog over Uttar Pradesh (Agra 50m, Lucknow 100m): India Meteorological Department pic.twitter.com/5kbj9iZjew

— ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2022

Earlier, on Friday, IMD had predicted cold to severe cold day conditions for some parts of Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh during the next 24 hours. 

"Dense to Very Dense Fog Conditions likely in isolated/some parts in night/morning hours over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh during next 3 days," the weather bulletin added. 

The minimum temperature in the national capital dropped down to six degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is expected to touch 19 degrees Celsius today. 

On the other hand, the air quality improved significantly on Saturday and moved to the moderate category with the air quality index (AQI) touching 132, according to the latest estimates updated by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). 

"AQI today indicates `moderate` air quality, improved significantly from yesterday`s `very poor` air quality due to rain and gusty wind that washed out particulate matter in air. A few spells of light rain are likely today improving AQI further but to remain within `moderate`. From tomorrow onwards relatively calm surface winds are likely and air quality gradually degrades back to `poor` and then to `very poor` as rate of accumulation of pollutants is likely to be more than that of ventilation," read the bulletin by SAFAR today.

(With ANI inputs)