NEW DELHI: As a slight relief from the inclement weather, the minimum temperature in the city on Monday rose to 6.1 degrees Celsius from 4.8 deg Celsius a day before. However, cold wave conditions continue to persist with a maximum temperature of 15.8 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal.
Safdarjung, the main weather station in the national capital, recorded visibility of 500 metres at 5.30 am, while the visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was 1,000 meters at 6.30 am.
According to official Indian Railways data, 23 Delhi-bound trains were running late due to dense fog that enveloped parts of northern India.
The IMD has forecast mainly clear sky and moderate to dense fog in the morning for Tuesday with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to settle around 18 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Meanwhile, the air quality continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category at several stations across the city.
In the Anand Vihar area, at 9 a.m., PM2.5 levels were recorded to be in the ‘very poor’ category standing at 386 and PM10 reached 341 or again, ‘very poor’, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
POWER DEMAND
The unrelenting cold conditions in Delhi pushed the city’s peak winter power demand to its highest-ever level of 5,816 megawatts (MW) on Monday morning, discom officials said.
The previous winter records in Delhi were 5,798 MW on January 19, 5,726 MW on January 17, and 5,701 MW on January 12.
The discoms had estimated the peak power demand in Delhi to be 5,760 MW. The power demand reached 5,816 MG at 10.52 am on Monday, according to the city.
This is the sixth time in January this year that Delhi’s winter power demand has surpassed last year’s peak of 5,526 MW recorded on January 6, 2023, the officials said.