Over 100 flights cancelled as dense fog blankets Delhi with AQI on brink of ‘severe’ at 384

New Delhi: More than 100 flights were cancelled at Delhi’s airport on Saturday as dense fog reduced visibility across the North India and disrupted air traffic. Officials said at least 66 arriving flights and 63 departures were cancelled at the at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport amid the weather conditions. The flight cancellations came amid poor visibility conditions, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) saying visibility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport remained low during the morning hours. At 11 am IST, the general visibility at the airport was recorded at 500 metres.The weather agency added that shallow to moderate fog is also expected during night and early morning hours. In its daily bulletin, the IMD said Delhi is likely to see a partly cloudy sky, with shallow fog at many places and moderate fog at a few locations till the forenoon.

Visibility plunged across parts of Delhi on Saturday morning, with buildings and flyovers fading into a grey blur amid dense fog, as the capital’s AQI edged closer to the ‘severe’ category at 384. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI between 201 and 300 as ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’. The lowest visibility up to 8.30 am was recorded at Safdarjung, where it dropped to 200 metres, followed by Palam at 350 metres, according to official data. Several parts of the capital were enveloped in dense smog and fog during early morning hours, leading to poor visibility, a situation forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) a day earlier, officials said. According to data from the CPCB, out of the 40 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi, 16 recorded air quality index (AQI) in the ‘severe’ zone, while 24 were ‘very poor’. ITO was the worst at 437.

On Friday, Delhi's AQI stood at 374, with 11 of the 40 monitoring stations in the ‘severe’ category and 29 in the ‘very poor’ range. The AQI is likely to worsen over the next two days, with the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi forecasting that pollution levels may slip into ‘severe’ on Sunday and Monday, amid unfavourable meteorological conditions. To mitigate the toxic pollution levels, a ban on non-Delhi private vehicles below BS-VI emission standards and enforcement of the 'No PUC, No Fuel' rule came into force on Thursday. Under the rule, no vehicle can get a refill at any fuel pump without a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate.