Delhi breathes ‘very poor’ air; dense fog, light rain likely over next two days

Fog disrupts Dethi airport ops; 18 flights cancelled, 16 diverted

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

Dense fog is expected to continue over Delhi on Wednesday, with generally cloudy skies and light rain likely on New Year's Day, even as air quality remains under stress and transport services face ongoing disruption, according to the India Meteorological Department.

On Tuesday, the national capital's air quality showed marginal improvement but stayed in the very poor category. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board indicated that the 24-hour average Air Quality Index stood at 388, compared with 401 a day earlier. Pollution levels were uneven across the city, with 17 monitoring stations recording very poor air and another 17 registering readings in the severe range. Anand Vihar reported the worst conditions with an AQI of 460, according to CPCB's Sameer app. Under the official scale, AQI values between 301 and 400 are classified as very poor, while 401 to 500 are considered severe.