On Friday morning, a thick haze lingered in the air in Delhi-NCR and air pollution rose to hazardous levels. The Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 301, slipping into the ‘very poor’ category after weeks of stability. But what caused the deterioration of air quality and the sudden haze in the region? Scroll on to know more.
Delhi Enveloped In Thick Haze
The people of Delhi-NCR woke up to a thick haze in the air on Thursday morning, which continued on Friday morning as well. According to The Indian Express, sudden strong winds and dust surges from western Rajasthan swept through the area on Wednesday night. This caused a thick blanket of haze to take over the region with visibility dropping significantly in many areas.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), strong winds between 30-40 kmph swept over the Palam area after a cloud mass moved in. It lifted fine dust particles into the lower atmosphere, which caused the visibility to drop sharply from 4,500 metres to 1,200 metres from 10 PM to 11:30 PM.
Later, although the winds calmed to 3-7 kmph, the suspended haze lingered through the night. This also affected air quality in Delhi-NCR. As per reports, visibility continued to remain poor at 1,200-1,500 m at both Safdarjung and Palam airports. Officials reported dust in the air. At dawn, a breeze of 10 kmph began to disperse the dust layer. It helped nudge visibility back to 1,500 m at Palam. On Thursday, visibility dropped as low as 1,200 m at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
IMD, however, clarified that the haze in Delhi-NCR did not qualify as a duststorm. As per the weather department, a ‘light duststorm’ requires wind gusts up to 40 kmph and visibility below 1,000 m. However, in Delhi, while wind speeds briefly peaked, visibility did not drop below the threshold. The lowest visibility reported was 1,200 m on Wednesday night.
IMD also revealed that the dust likely originated from North Pakistan. From there, it travelled through Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana to reach Delhi-NCR on Wednesday night. This was mainly under “the influence of strong lower-level westerly winds”. While the haze slightly cleared up by Thursday afternoon, residents woke up to yet another hazy day on Friday morning.
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What Prompted The Worsening Of Delhi’s Air Quality
While the haze seemed to have settled slightly, the sudden haze caused the air quality of Delhi-NCR to slip into the ‘very poor’ category. The strong winds, carrying dust, from western Rajasthan worsened the air quality of the city and even lowered visibility in several areas.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), while the city’s overall AQI was measured at 301, several monitoring stations reported even worse levels. In Anand Vihar, the AQI was 352, 322 in Ashok Vihar, and 333 in Aya Nagar. Thankfully, there is no warning for a long-lasting/ intense duststorm in the Delhi-NCR right now, so the air quality might improve soon.
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What is the weather like in your city? Let us know in the comments.
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva (representative image)
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