India Meteorological Department (IMD) noted the presence of smoke in the air calling it “not supportive” for walking or jogging.
The minimum temperature fell over past the 24 hours, with Wednesday recording 12.4
degree Celsius, the season’s average, against 13.5 degrees on Tuesday. The maximum temperature was likely to hover around 28 degrees Celsius.
“There will be a mixture of smoke and haze. In the morning, the sky will remain clear but
later it may get partly cloudy,” an IMD official said.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was 391 at 10 a.m., merely 10 points from being
‘severe’, on a scale of 0 to 500. The humidity also remained high at 93 per cent in the morning, making it difficult for pollutants to disperse.
Delhi-NCR face westerly and southwesterly winds, which being moist were also not supportive of pollution dispersion.
The average presence of particle pollutants, across 37 areas of Delhi during the morning hours were on the verge of ‘severe’ category.
According to a report by Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC),India is the world’s second most polluted country, slightly trailing only Nepal. The study says that Delhi’s Air Quality has reduced life expectancy by 10 years.
Also with the air quality in Delhi showing no sign of improvement, the Centre is planning to induce artificial rain to wash away toxic pollutants from the air.
Delhi is reeling under the menace of air pollution from the past couple of years. The region faced a major air quality crisis last year when severe pollution level forced shutdown of schools and colleges. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had then called the city a gas chamber.