A dense blanket of smog surrounded Delhi and neighboring regions of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad on Wednesday morning. The smog led to flight diversions due to weather conditions.
As reported by the IMD, In total 10 flights were diverted, including six to Jaipur and one to Lucknow at 7 a.m. it further said that, Zero-meter visibility was recorded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 8.30 am with the Runway Visual Range varying between 125 and 500 meters at different locations.
Taking to social media platform X, Delhi International Airport Limited posted, “While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected,”
Delhi’s air quality index lay in the ‘Severe Category’ while that of Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad was in the ‘Poor’ category. Faridabad’s AQI was ‘Moderate.’
Graded Response Action Plan Remains in Action
As per the reports, the second stage of Graded response Action remains in action in Delhi. The plan entails mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling on identified roads and implements dust control measures at construction and demolition sites.
However, Air quality continued to be a major issue across the Indo-Gangetic Plains, with three cities in Bihar, two in Haryana, and Chandigarh ranking among the ten most polluted locations in the country on Wednesday.
Air quality in various areas of Punjab and Haryana was classified as ‘poor,’ with Chandigarh, the shared capital of both states situated at the foothills of the Shivalik range, continuing to experience the worst levels of pollution.
As reported by the NDTV, the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer App reported that Chandigarh, with an AQI of 375, falls into the “very poor” category. Despite being home to the third-largest tree cover in India, the city’s air quality was worse than that of Ludhiana, a major industrial hub in Punjab, which had an AQI of 212.
