Thick Smog Blankets Delhi-NCR, Air Quality Hits Severe, Flight Ops Hit

Thick Smog Blankets Delhi-NCR, Air Quality Hits Severe, Flight Ops Hit

The second stage of Graded Response Action Plan stays in pressure within the nationwide capital.

New Delhi:

A dense layer of smog enveloped Delhi and surrounding areas of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad on Wednesday morning, resulting in flight diversions.

Due to hostile climate situations, 10 flights had been diverted, together with six to Jaipur and one to Lucknow, since 7 am. Zero-metre visibility was recorded on the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 8.30 am with the Runway Visual Range various between 125 and 500 metres at completely different areas, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated.

Delhi International Airport Limited stated in a publish on social media platform X., “While touchdown and takeoffs proceed at Delhi Airport, flights that aren’t CAT III compliant might get affected,” the authority stated. CAT III is a navigation system that allows plane to land even when visibility is low.

Delhi’s air high quality index was within the ‘Severe’ class breaching the 400 mark, whereas that of Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad was within the ‘Poor’ class. Faridabad’s AQI, at 188, was ‘Moderate’.

Visibility was poor because the AQI entered the ‘Severe’ class after remaining within the ‘Very Poor’ class for 2 weeks in Delhi. Two monitoring stations, together with Anand Vihar and Aya Nagar, reported the air high quality within the “extreme” class, in line with the Central Pollution Control Board.

“Very dense” fog started forming at round 5.30 am, whereas the climate division has forecast shallow fog for the day, with the utmost temperature anticipated to settle at 32 levels Celsius.

The second stage of Graded Response Action Plan stays in pressure within the nationwide capital, which entails mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling on recognized roads, and implementation of mud management measures at building and demolition websites.

Air high quality remained a priority all around the Indo-Gangetic Plains, with three Bihar cities, two Haryana cities and Chandigarh that includes among the many high 10 polluted locations within the nation on Wednesday.

The state of affairs is alarming in neighbouring Pakistan, the place United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned concerning the well being dangers to 11 million youngsters in Pakistan’s jap Punjab province as a consequence of worsening air air pollution.

An AQI between zero and 50 is taken into account ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘passable’, 101 and 200 ‘average’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘extreme’ and above 450 ‘extreme plus’.

Inputs from PTI