Delhi pollution: Wind speed drops, AQI back in ‘very poor’ zone; IMD issues yellow alert for fog

NEW DELHI: As the wind speed dropped, the city's air quality deteriorated sharply on Friday, turning very poor from poor a day earlier. The 24-hour average air quality index at 4pm was 332 compared to 234 on Thursday.

AQI, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 320 at 11am compared to 218 at the same time on Thursday. By 2pm, a few areas even entered the severe category, with Jahangirpuri reaching 403 and Anand Vihar 405. By 6pm, more areas slipped into the severe zone, with Bawana recording an AQI of 423, Vivek Vihar 418, Jahangirpuri 414, Narela 413, Anand Vihar 406, Rohini 405, DTU 404 and Nehru Nagar 403.


According to the weather department, the city experienced light winds due to an approaching western disturbance. The wind was calm during the early morning hours and peaked at 10kmph southwesterly for a short duration. Weather analysts said back-to-back western disturbances were expected in the region, bringing down the wind speed and leading to a pollution spike.

"A fresh WD is approaching the region, likely to reach western Himalayas by Saturday. Another western disturbance is expected on Dec 27 and a third one between Dec 30 and Jan 1. So, for the next four to five days, winds will be light and AQI will be slightly high. The fog will also be there since the wind speed will be low," said Mahesh Palawat, vice-chairman of Skymet. The temperatures will rise after two days by 1-2 degrees Celsius, he added. IITMs' early warning system predicts AQI to remain very poor during the next week.

The minimum temperature was 7.7 degrees Celsius compared to 6.5 degrees a day earlier. IMD expects moderate to dense fog on Saturday and has issued a yellow alert. The minimum temperature will be 6-8 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 5-7 degrees on Sunday.

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