Delhi's air quality remains in 'very poor' category; city likely to receive light rain till evening
The air quality in the national capital on Friday remained in the 'very poor' category according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) is at 353. Yesterday, the AQI was 318.
As per the government agencies, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
"AQI today indicates 'very poor'. Tomorrow AQI is expected to remain in 'very poor' as temperature and wind speed are likely to remain almost the same. It is likely to rain on January 22 and 23 with gusty wind leading to wet deposition and strong dispersion resulting in significant improvement of AQI to 'Poor'," read the SAFAR' daily bulletin.
The India Meteorological Department said that the capital city witnessed moderate fog today morning with a visibility of 700 metres reported at Palam and 200 metres at Safdarjung.
"As regards Delhi, moderate fog is reported (visibility at SFD 200 m and Palam 700m)," IMD tweeted today.
The national capital is likely to receive light rain till evening, IMD added.
The weather department also predicted light rainfall for the national capital and its adjoining areas between January 21 and 23. Around the same time, minimum temperatures are likely to rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius over Northwest India.With a blanket of dense fog engulfing the national capital on Friday morning leading to poor visibility several Delhi-bound trains were delayed, informed the Northern Railway.
According to the Northern Railway, a total of 21 Delhi-bound trains including Puri New Delhi Purushottam Express, Gaya New Delhi Mahabodhi Express, Saharsa New Delhi Express, Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express, Prayagraj New Delhi Express, Chennai New Delhi Express and Lucknow New Delhi Express are running late due to fog.
As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 10 degrees Celsius at 8:30 am today while the maximum is expected to touch 18 degrees Celsius.
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