Parts of city clock light rain; temp may dip further: IMD

Parts of the Capital on Monday morning received light rainfall, due to the effect of a new western disturbance that also brought fresh snowfall to the mountains and is likely to lead to a dip in temperature from Tuesday due to the return of cold northwesterly winds to the city, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

But the rainfall, which was "trace" at most locations, failed to improve the air quality—it was languishing in the upper reaches of the "very poor" category, clocking a 24-hour average reading of 335, marginally down from an AQI of 339 a day before, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB's) daily bulletin.

On Sunday, the Centre for Air Quality Management in NCR revoked curbs under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) due to a gradual improvement in air quality and an expectation of further improvement.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet said moisture in the region will reduce from Tuesday onwards, with the wind direction to become northwesterly. "Winds will start to pick up again and since these will be blowing from snowclad mountains where fresh snow has been recorded, it will impact the plains and lead to a sharp dip in minimum," he said.