New Delhi: A combination of dense fog and toxic smog brought Delhi to a near standstill on Friday morning, as visibility plunged across the city and air quality hovered close to the ‘severe’ mark.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for the national capital, warning of major disruptions to flights, trains and road traffic amid persistently poor atmospheric conditions.
In Delhi, early morning visibility dropped to near-zero levels at several locations as fog mixed with persistent smog. According to the IMD, “very dense fog” is defined by visibility between 0 and 50 metres, while “dense fog” ranges from 51 to 200 metres. Similar conditions were reported across the Indo-Gangetic plains, stretching from Punjab to Bihar. Orange alerts were issued for multiple districts in Uttar Pradesh, parts of Uttarakhand, including Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, and several districts of Punjab such as Amritsar, Patiala and Sangrur.
Air quality data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) at around 374 in the evening and 382–387 on Friday morning, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category and edging close to ‘severe’. At least 14 monitoring stations recorded ‘severe’ air quality. Vivek Vihar and Anand Vihar were among the worst affected, with AQI readings crossing 430. Other hotspots, including R.K. Puram, Punjabi Bagh, Nehru Nagar and Wazirpur, also remained in the ‘severe’ range, while areas such as Mandir Marg (around 340) and Dilshad Garden (around 350) saw slightly lower but still ‘very poor’ levels.
The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has forecast that air quality is likely to remain ‘very poor’ until Saturday and may deteriorate to the ‘severe’ category on Sunday if weather conditions do not improve.
Dense fog severely disrupted flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday morning, with media reports indicating that 79 departures, including two international flights, and 73 arrivals, also including two international services, were cancelled, while over 200 flights were delayed.