: The city saw a hazy afternoon on Tuesday even though the overnight fog that brought visibility down from 800m to 200m at the Delhi airport, between 10 p.m. and 4 p.m., had cleared up by the morning.
The weatherman has forecast a fresh spell of fog and smog in the city in the coming days as the prevailing westerly winds are likely to reverse with a western disturbance likely to move across the hills between December 9 and December 12. The MeT department also said it would be challenging to forecast the intensity and duration of the new spell of fog. The minimum temperature in the city was 9.4 degree celsius and the maximum was recorded at 24.8 degree celsius. Both figures are considered normal for the season. Humidity hovered between 92 per cent and 55 per cent. While there was not much impact on air traffic, many trains to and from the city were reportedly running late by several hours.
Pollution watch
While levels of harmful particulate matter have remained very high for days now, there were spikes in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations levels during the evening on Tuesday.
As per the National Air Quality Index, the AQI was “severe” - the highest category - in nine out of 10 monitoring stations in Delhi at 8 p.m. At one station, NSIT Dwarka, it was “very poor”.
Over safe level
According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee's data, the level of PM2.5 peaked at Anand Vihar at 9 a.m. when a concentration of 597 micrograms per cubic metre was recorded.
This was nearly six times the safe level of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, though lower than the averages observed during the smog episode in early-November.
Mandir Marg, which usually has better air quality than parts of the city, too had extremely high levels of PM2.5, peaking at 465 micrograms per cubic metre at 2 p.m.
Symptoms
Meanwhile, doctors in the city cautioned people against the effects of pollution, including watery eyes caused by the smog. High pollution levels could lead to eye infections and irritation.
Dr. Sridevi Gunda, an ophthalmologist at the iTek Vision Centre, said: “The most common problems due to the pollution are redness, burning, itching, watering, dry or gritty sensation or allergic reactions, which can cause vision loss, especially in complicated cases.” Temperatures on Wednesday are likely to reman the same.
