like monsoon, fog and mist too have made an early entry to the Capital this year. With a slight nip in the air these days, Delhiites are welcomed with shallow fog early in the morning.
Met officials said that such weather conditions — a combination of fog, smog and mist — generally begins to set in only after Diwali. Even as pollution level has reached an alarming level, the visibility over the past week remained moderate between 500 to 1,000 metres. Experts attributed the early arrival of fog, thereby reducing visibility, to the sudden downpour that occurred in South India.
“Moisture is required to create such weather conditions. Therefore, rain in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha had propelled the premature arrival of fog. A low pressure belt was created over Telangana and
Rayal-aseema which resulted in easterly winds blowing over North-West India, making an ideal situation for the fog to settle in,” said RK Jenamani, director in-charge, Met department, IGI Airport.
While over the past three days many might have mistaken it to be an overcast weather, Met officials said the city had been enveloped by smog instead of fog. “Shallow fog binds the city only during five to eight in the morning which clears out after that. Towards the later half of the day, if there is partial sunlight it is only because of smog. With the withdrawal of South Westerly monsoons, there has been a sudden fall in the air quality of the Capital, which is worrisome,” said a senior Met official. Come Diwali, and the situation is set to go even worse.
Delhiites are breathing air which has high levels of aerosol and heavy metals. In the absence of rains which otherwise act as a natural cleanser, the national Capital’s air is filled with carcinogenic particles.
“Among heavy metals lead, manganese, cobalt, cadmium and nickel are present in extremely high proportions in the air. The main source of these metals is industries, whereas Delhi is not an ‘industrial’ city parse. Besides, it is a known fact that Delhi air is already high on particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5),” informed an official Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
Even humidity levels have been unusually high these days with the maximum not going anywhere below 85 per cent. “If there is more humidity, there is more mist. This time because of extended monsoons, the humidity levels have also remained high. Generally the maximum during this time is approximately 75 per cent,”
On Monday, Delhiites were greeted with a chilly but pleasant morning as the city recorded below normal temperature. The maximum temperature was recorded at 30.6 degrees Celsius, a degree below the average for this time of the year, while the minimum was a notch above average at 16.8 degrees Celsius. The city residents witnessed a hazy morning with a nip in the air, but as the day progressed the sky became clear. The humidity level oscillated between 88 per cent and 37 per cent. MeT department has predicted a clear sky, with possibility of mist or shallow fog in the morning. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to remain around 30 and 17 degrees Celsius.