Heavy smog blankets Delhi as air quality on brink of 'severe', airport issues advisory
PTC News Desk: Delhi’s air quality worsened again on Saturday, nearing the ‘severe’ bracket as the city’s average AQI rose to 387, undoing the short-lived improvement seen earlier in the week.
Dense smog and light fog blanketed several areas in the early hours, cutting visibility and prompting low-visibility protocols at Indira Gandhi International Airport, although flight operations remained unaffected. The situation was particularly alarming in pollution-prone pockets, where 18 locations reported AQI readings above 400, indicating hazardous conditions.
After breathing ‘very poor’ air for nine straight days, Delhi had seen a slight respite on Tuesday when the AQI dipped to 282 (‘poor’). Air quality improved marginally further on Wednesday to 259, but declined again to 307 on Thursday and worsened to 349 on Friday, CPCB data showed. The trend continued on Saturday, pushing pollution levels back to the edge of the ‘severe’ category.
Poor air quality was not limited to Delhi alone. Across the NCR, Ghaziabad and Noida recorded AQI levels of 422 each, firmly in the ‘severe’ zone, while Gurugram posted an AQI of 295 and Faridabad 208, both classified as ‘poor’.
- PTC NEWS
