Dense fog in Delhi throws life out of gear, IMD issues orange alert as weather to get colder

Delhi and several parts of the national capital like Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad witnessed a thick layer of fog, Thursday morning (Dec 18). Visibility reduced to zero in several areas, creating difficulties for people driving to office. It also led to major flight disruptions and cancellations. While the pollution level continued to remain in the severe category. Dense fog in the city delayed over 700 flights and led to cancellation of more than 100 flights.

Orange alert sounded, temp to drop

The weather condition has led to the India Meteorological Department sounding a red alert today for Delhi. The night temperature is likely to settle close to 9 degrees, while large parts of the city and its adjoining areas will continue to witness 'dense to very dense fog Saturday, affecting air traffic and railway routes.

“Dense to very dense fog is expected at several places during the early hours of Saturday. Shallow fog or mist may also occur at night," an IMD official said.

Similar weather conditions are likely to prevail in Delhi for the next two days. Dense fog and further drop in temperature has been predicted by IMD.

AQI in Delhi

While the AQI in the city stood at 374, which is considered "very poor" and just close to the severe threshold of 401. Notably 40 monitoring stations in the city witnessed severe air quality.

What are the AQI categories?

0-50: Good

51-100: Satisfactory

101-200: Moderate

201-300: Poor

301-400: Very Poor

401-500: Severe

Major contributor: Transport pollution

Transport remains the largest contributor to Delhi’s pollution, responsible for 18.4% of emissions on Tuesday. It was followed by emissions from nearby industries (9.2%) and neighbouring cities, including Noida (8.2%), Ghaziabad (4.6%), Baghpat (6.2%), Panipat (3.3%), and Gurugram (2.9%). It is expected that transport emissions will account for 15.6% of the city’s pollution on Wednesday.