New Year begins with ‘very poor’ air; cold wave eases
NEW DELHI: Delhi’s air quality improved marginally on Tuesday, the first day of the New Year, to the ‘very poor’ category after reeling in the ‘severe’ zone for the last two days.
A rise in both day and night temperatures helped in the dispersal of pollutants. But the respite may not stay as government agencies warned air quality could deteriorate to ‘severe’ again on Wednesday.
Parts of the city saw a moderate fog cover with the lowest visibility recorded at 500 metres at the IGI Airport. Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhi’s weather, had visibility of around 600 metres in the morning. On Wednesday, shallow to moderate fog has been forecast with visibility likely to drop to 400 metres.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, Delhi may see a spell of moderate to dense fog on January 7 and 8, on account of a western disturbance approaching the northern plains.
“So far, Delhi has had a clean December in terms of visibility and it is likely to continue for the first week of January. However, there could be a spell of moderate to dense fog after January 6, when light rain is expected in parts of Delhi-ncr, which will bring moisture, resulting in fog,” said, Kuldeep Srivastava, head of regional weather forecasting centre (RWFC), IMD.
Officials said cold wave conditions have subsided and both day and night temperatures are expected to rise by a degree or two. People in the city woke up to a cold January morning with the minimum temperature settling at 4 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average. The day temperature was 22.2 degrees, three notches above normal.
“The day and night temperatures are likely to rise at least in the first week of January on account of two successive western disturbances (WD) approaching the city, bringing possibility
of rain and a cloudy sky. Whenever there is a cloud layer in the sky, the temperature rises,” said Srivastava.
On Wednesday, the minimum temperature is likely to settle around 6 degrees while the day temperature may settle around 23 degrees Celsius. The air quality index (AQI) was 393 at 4pm against Monday’s 420.
According to officials in the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Safar, the union government’s air quality forecasting
system, air quality may worsen to ‘severe’ again on Wednesday mainly because of unfavourable meteorological conditions.
“Low wind speed and poor ventilation index (factor which determines how fast pollutants can disperse) are not allowing pollutants to disperse, which may push air quality back to severe,” said, a senior CPCB official.
However the AQI is expected to improve from January 4, when wind speed is likely to pick up. Rain may also help clear the air.