Cold wave grips Delhi, air quality to remain poor for 48 hours

A thick blanket of fog continued to envelop the national capital on Saturday with pollution further intoxicating the atmosphere.

According to SAFAR, the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi in the morning was docking at 381, considered 'very poor'.

An AQI between the range of 51 to 100 is considered as satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201-300 falls under the category of poor and range between 401-500 is known as hazardous.

In its advisory, the Central Pollution Control Board stated that for the next 48 hours, residents of Delhi and NCR will experience bad air quality as meteorological conditions suggest that humidity levels will be up, and temperatures will be low with light winds in offing.

"However, January 21 evening onward, Delhi and its neighbourhood areas might start witnessing on and off rains up till January 25. The intensity of rains can go up from January 22 onward with few moderate spells at many places. During this period, the pollution levels might see a dip, as these rains will wash away the pollutants in the atmosphere, "it added.

Due to thick fog, as many as ten trains have delayed by at least an hour.

Jaynagar Anand Vihar Garib Rath Express, Manikpur- Nizamuddin Sampark Kranti were delayed by 2 hours each, Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express, Gaya New Delhi Mahabodhi Express, Bhagalpur-Anand Vihar-Vikramshilla were delayed by 6 hours, 5 hours and 3 hours, respectively.

Today, the minimum and maximum temperature of Delhi will hover around 6 Degree Celsius and 23 Degree Celsius, respectively. The humidity in the region will be oscillating between 70 per cent and 75 per cent with wind speed 5 km/hr.