A day after Diwali, Delhiites woke up to a nippy and foggy morning on Monday. With low wind speed failing to clear the smog — an aftermath of burning crackers — Delhi Airport witnessed the lowest visibility of the season on November 4.
“A thick layer of smog formed over the three runways from November 3 midnight. The visibility meters installed at the runways recorded the lowest visibility of 200 m between 12.30 am and 3.30 am at the city side of the airport. Visibility started dropping from 3,500 m in the evening. As there was no wind from 7 pm on Sunday, the pollution from burning fireworks accumulated and created a thick layer of smog,” said
RK Jenamani, Director-in charge, IGI Met Department. He added that it is shocking to note that the air, which was so clean over Delhi on Diwali evening, reached its worst by midnight.
However, towards the second half of the day, the sky was clear thereby increasing visibility. Maximum temperature was recorded two notches below the season’s average at 28.3°C, while the minimum temperature settled at 12.6°C — which was again three notches below the normal. The humidity wavered between 89 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.
The Met office has forecast a foggy and misty Tuesday morning with visibility likely to be between 500 m to 800 m. The maximum and minimum temperatures on Tuesday are likely to be around 28°C and 13°C respectively. Following Diwali, the national Capital witnessed alarmingly high levels of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air.
While SPM 10 levels were as high as 560 mg per cubic metre, average concentration of sulphur dioxide also exceeded its prescribed levels.