Amid the ongoing severe cold wave conditions, a red alert has been issued by the Met department on Saturday for the residents of Delhi.
Meanwhile, the woes of residents will be increased as air quality is declining in the national capital and the cold wave will remain the same.
“The AQI (Air Quality Index) of Delhi-NCR, which saw some good air days in recent weeks, will slip back to the ‘very poor’ category in the next three to four days,” VK Soni, a scientist at the IMD said.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) the AQI of Delhi was 359 and it was is ‘very poor’ category.
RK Jenanmani, a weather scientist at IMD said, “The Delhi University’s Ridge area recorded a minimum of 1.5 degrees Celsius today, which is the lowest recorded this season.”
Earlier in the day, as the cold wave conditions continue to grip northern India, the National Capital Territory of Delhi recorded a 1.5 degrees minimum temperature in the Delhi ridge area.
Due to dense fog, many parts of Delhi are covered and in RK Puram there was low visibility. On Saturday severe cold wave was observed in Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi.
“The western disturbance, which was expected to break this cold spell, hasn’t been too effective. A vast swathe of the North Indian belt, including Delhi, North Madhya Pradesh, North Rajasthan, Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh, are colder than Shimla, Manali, and the western Himalayan region where the minimum temperature has increased,” Jenanmani said.
Moreover, in isolated pockets over West Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh the cold wave was also witnessed.
“Churu in Rajasthan reached freezing point while the temperature of Nowgong in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhattarpur district reached sub-zero, at 0.5 degrees Celcius. Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh recorded 2.2 degrees Celcius and Hisar in Haryana recorded the lowest in the state, at 2 degrees Celsius, Jenanmani said.
Jenanmani further stated, “The Indian Meteorological Department has issued red alerts for the next 24 to 48 hours, warning of severe cold in North India and dense fog for North Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh. An ‘orange alert. will also be in place for January 8 to 9 night. Thereafter, the severe cold is likely to abate. We expect the Western Disturbance to take effect from January 10 and there will, hence, be some respite from the cold from January 9.”
“For the next 48 hours, people are advised to take all the safety measures and avoid stepping out, unless it is very urgent,” Janemani said in an interview.
However, on Saturday around 34 domestic departure flights from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) were delayed due to bad weather on Saturday and over 32 long-distance trains are running behind their schedule.