New Delhi: Delhi was enveloped under the blanket of moderate fog on Tuesday as the air quality remained ‘severe’, a day after restrictions under stages 3 and 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) were reimposed. Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 426 (severe) at 9 am.
Dense fog will likely blanket parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Northeast India on December 16 and 17, reducing visibility. Ground frost could affect isolated pockets in Madhya Pradesh on December 15, further intensifying the chilly weather.
Delhi woke up to an ‘severe’ category air quality on Tuesday, with the overall AQI at 421 at around 8 am, according to the central government’s Sameer app, which provides hourly updates on the National Air Quality Index.
GRAP Stage 3 brings with it a ban on BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel four-wheelers in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Budh Nagar, along with restrictions on the use of stone crushers, mining and associated activities. It also restricts Delhi-registered diesel operated Medium Goods Vehicles (MGVs) to BS-4 standards or below, in Delhi, along with BS-4 and lower diesel operated light commercial vehicles registered outside Delhi from plying in Delhi.
Cold weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana on Sunday, with Faridkot recording the lowest temperature in the region at 1 degrees Celsius. In Punjab, Gurdaspur and Bathinda also experienced chilly nights, recording minimum temperatures of two degrees Celsius and 4.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, the India Meteorological Department said.
Similarly, Haryana’s Hisar recorded a chill of 1.7 degrees Celsius, while Narnaul registered a minimum temperature of 3 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions will likely continue in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir from December 15 to 19, the weather body said, while Rajasthan will experience similar conditions from December 17 to 20.
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