Rains bring no respite as air quality deteriorates in Delhi

Heavy downpour that hit Delhi and its surrounding areas on Thursday failed to improve the overall air quality index (AQI) on Friday.

The AQI was docking at 320 in the morning. At Mathura Road, the AQI was 314 with Particulate Matter (PM) 10. At Dhirpur, the AQI was 324 while in Pitampura area it dipped to 'very poor' category at 353. Furthermore, AQI near Pusa Road, Airport Terminal 3 and Chandni Chowk stood at 301, 309 and 316, respectively.

As per Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency, "Light scattered rains are expected to continue over the national capital region till February 15. By February 16, the weather systems will move towards east India giving rain in Uttar Pradesh."

"As a consequence of the rainfall activity, maximums in Delhi and its adjoining areas will drop by 2 Degree Celsius to 4 Degree Celsius, while the maximums will again start increasing February 16 onwards," it added.

Moreover, rail services were disrupted in the region as a thick blanket of fog engulfed the national capital and its surrounding regions.

According to the Indian Railways, as many as 16 trains coming towards Delhi are running late due to low visibility on the railway tracks.

The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 23 Degrees and 14 Degree Celsius, respectively.

Apart from Delhi, thunderstorm accompanied with hailstorm and gusty winds at isolated places are 'very likely' over Uttarakhand, northwest and East Uttar Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Telangana, said the India Meteorological Department.In addition, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Odisha are also likely to receive moderate rain showers later in the day.