Shrouded in a thick blanket of fog that disrupted rail and air traffic, the city on Sunday saw its lowest minimum temperature this winter and enforced stringent anti-pollution measures for the first time this year as the air quality worsened. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature on Sunday was four degrees below the season’s average at 3.5 degrees Celsius, while the maximum was one notch above the normal at 20.6 degrees Celsius.
In a statement, the Railways said 22 Delhi-bound trains were delayed by one to six hours due to the fog in the Capital as well as other States. Sources at the Indira Gandhi International Airport said nearly 600 flights were delayed and 76 cancelled as visibility was near zero.
Bonfires lit to celebrate the harvest festival of Lohri, coupled with meteorological factors, saw the air quality index (AQI) deteriorate to the ‘severe’ category for the first time this year, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to implement steps under ‘stage 3’ of the Graded Response Action Plan. The National Capital Region (NCR) will now see a ban on BS-III petrol vehicles and BS-IV diesel vehicles — those compliant only with Bharat Stage-III and Stage-IV emission norms — as well as non-essential construction and demolition activities, among other curbs.
As per the CAQM, Delhi’s AQI stood at 447 as of 4 p.m., amid “unfavourable climatic conditions like very low wind speed, rise in moisture levels, low mixing heights, and local pollution sources, including large-scale open burning in the last 24 hours”. An AQI reading between 401 and 450 is considered ‘severe’.
On Monday, schools in the city are set to restart physical classes for primary sections, following the end of the winter break that was extended till January 12 due to severe cold. However, the Directorate of Education issued a circular stating that classes will start only from 9 a.m. and must end by 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, a truck driver died and four persons were injured in a pile-up of trucks caused by heavy fog on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida in the early hours of Sunday, the police said. The IMD has issued an advisory, asking people to drive with extreme caution due to very low visibility. It has forecast ‘very dense’ fog and ‘cold wave’ conditions for two more days.
