Delhi air turns ‘severe’; AQI crosses 400 amid dense smog and fog

A dense layer of smog and fog covered large parts of Delhi on Tuesday morning as air quality in the national capital deteriorated sharply, with pollution levels rising and visibility dropping across the city.

At 7.05 am, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 414, breaching the ‘severe’ category, according to data from the Sameer app.

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Weather conditions offered little relief. Low temperatures coupled with calm winds and high humidity trapped pollutants near the surface in the early hours.

Of the 40 operational air quality monitoring stations in the city, 29 reported air quality in the ‘severe’ or ‘severe plus’ categories.

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Anand Vihar worst-hit as pollution stays high

Anand Vihar recorded the highest pollution levels on Tuesday morning, with the AQI touching 466.

The station has remained in the severe zone over the past several days, recording AQI readings of 416 on Monday, 418 on Sunday, 440 on Saturday, 430 on Friday and 438 on Thursday. The highest AQI recorded at the station in recent days was 492 on December 14.

Other areas with high pollution levels included Mundka (451), Nehru Nagar (453) and Okhla Phase-2 (452), while several stations hovered close to the ‘severe plus’ mark.

Fog hits visibility; transport, NCR areas affected

Very dense fog was reported at Safdarjung and Palam around 7.30 am, with visibility dropping to 50 metres, compared to 100 metres recorded at 5.30 am.

Low visibility continued to affect movement across the city. Flight operations at the Delhi airport saw delays and cancellations, while road traffic moved slowly on several arterial stretches, including the Rajokri flyover.

Air quality remained poor across parts of the NCR as well. Gurugram’s Sector 51 recorded an AQI of 386, Vasundhara in Ghaziabad reported 374, while Bahadurgarh recorded an AQI of 308 amid cold conditions.

The weather department issued a red alert for fog across all 11 districts of Delhi for the next two to three hours, warning of continued low visibility.