NEW DELHI: Several parts of the national capital witnessed light rains on Sunday evening and the maximum temperature for the day settled at 21.4 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The relative humidity recorded at 5.30 pm was 80 per cent and the minimum temperature settled at 9.8 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal.
The weather office predicted generally cloudy sky with possibility of very light rain and drizzle, and shallow to moderate fog on Monday morning. The IMD predicted that light to moderate intensity rainfall would occur over isolated places of Delhi, North Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. Places such as Gurugram, Manesar, Rohtak, Sonipat, and parts of Uttar Pradesh are also expected to experience drizzle.
On Saturday, the minimum temperature in the city was 7 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was recorded at 23.6 degrees Celsius. The air quality index (AQI)was recorded in the ‘severe’ category on Sunday evening with the AQI clocking 460 at 7 pm in the city, Central Pollution Control Board data showed.
On Saturday, Delhi’s overall AQI was 431 in the ‘severe’ zone, slightly less than Friday’s 415, as per the CPCB. The long pollution spell started soon after the slew of curbs put in place to curb the growing pollution levels by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) for NCR and adjoining states and as the weather conditions took a turn for the worse. Delhi’s air quality has been in this range since Tuesday when the AQI read 402 and has been on the rise since. The AQI in Faridabad was 455 while in Ghaziabad it was 430, Greater Noida 428, Gurgaon 378 and Noida 438.