Air quality in the national capital remained a concern on Tuesday, as the Air Quality Index (AQI) continued to hover in the ‘very poor’ category, touching 394 in the morning hours.
Despite the persistent pollution, weather conditions showed marginal improvement, with Delhiites waking up to a sunny morning and a slight rise in minimum temperatures, which settled at 7.7 degree Celsius.
Several monitoring stations in the city recorded severe air quality, with Wazirpur and Anand Vihar registering the highest AQI at 444. Jahangirpuri and Ashok Vihar followed closely, with AQI readings of 442 and 441, respectively, as measured at 9:00 am.
The Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) had imposed the GRAP IV regulations across Delhi-NCR as the AQI had touched severe levels two days ago and the situation showed no signs of improvement.
On Saturday, CAQM reimposed GRAP-IV in Delhi-NCR after the region’s air quality slipped into the ‘severe’ category, a day after GRAP-III measures were revoked in an attempt to tackle rising pollution levels.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the Western Disturbance in the form of a cyclonic circulation over north Punjab and its neighbourhood continues to influence weather conditions over northwest India.
The system is present at about 3.1 km above mean sea level, with an associated trough aloft in the middle and upper tropospheric westerlies extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level.
The IMD said the induced cyclonic circulation over northeast Rajasthan and adjoining areas, extending up to 1.5 km above mean sea level, also persists. Another Western Disturbance, seen as a trough in the middle tropospheric westerlies with its axis roughly along longitude 65°E to the north of latitude 32°N at 5.8 km above mean sea level, continues to impact the region.
Meanwhile, an intense Western Disturbance is likely to affect northwest India in quick succession from the night of January 21. The Subtropical Westerly Jet Stream, with core winds of around 130 knots at 12.6 km above mean sea level, is currently prevailing over northwest India, indicating active weather conditions in the coming days.
According to the forecast, there will be no significant change in minimum temperatures over the next two days, followed by a rise of 2–3 degrees Celsius on January 23 and a subsequent fall of 2–3 degrees thereafter. Minimum temperatures are likely to remain near normal on most days, turning above normal on January 23. Maximum temperatures are expected to stay appreciably above normal for the next three days before returning to normal levels.
The IMD has also predicted very light rain or drizzle accompanied by strong surface winds, with speeds reaching 20–30 kmph, on January 23. Skies are expected to remain mainly clear over the next 24 hours, turn partly cloudy for the subsequent two days and generally cloudy thereafter. Mist is likely during the night of January 20, while shallow to moderate fog is expected during morning hours for the next seven days.
