Dense fog hits visibility in Delhi, air quality returns to 'severe' category

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Dense fog shrouded Delhi on Monday, causing visibility to drop sharply in several areas, disrupting operations at the airport and pushing the air quality back into the 'severe' category.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a 'yellow' alert for dense fog on Tuesday morning.

The visibility at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and Safdarjung was 50 metres at 8 am. It improved to 100 metres around 9 am, the IMD said.

At least 128 flights were cancelled, eight diverted and nearly 200 delayed at the airport due to the low visibility conditions, according to an official and information on the flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 8.3 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees above normal, and a maximum of 22.5 degrees Celsius, 2.1 degrees above normal, the IMD said.

The capital is likely to witness dense fog on Tuesday morning as well, the weather department said, issuing a 'yellow' alert.

The maximum temperature on Tuesday is likely to settle around 21 degrees Celsius and the minimum around 8 degrees Celsius.

Delhi recorded a 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) of 401, in the 'severe' category, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

On Monday, the AQI stood at 390, in the 'very poor' category.

The air quality at 24 monitoring stations in the city was 'severe' while it was 'very poor' at 13 stations, data from the CPCB's SAMEER app showed.

Wazirpur recorded the worst AQI of 462.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.

The city's air quality is likely to be in the 'very poor' category on Tuesday and Wednesday, before returning to the 'severe' category on New Year's Day, the Air Quality Early Warning System said.

The outlook for the subsequent six days indicates 'very poor' air quality, it said.

Data from the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management showed transport was the biggest contributor to the city's pollution load at 15.1 per cent, followed by industries in Delhi and its peripheral areas at 7.6 per cent, residential sources at 3.6 per cent, construction activities at 2 per cent and waste burning at 1.3 per cent.

Among NCR districts, Jhajjar contributed 16.7 per cent to the pollution load, Rohtak 5.2 per cent, Sonipat 5.1 per cent, Bhiwani 3.4 per cent and Gurugram 1.5 per cent. PTI SGV DIV DIV