Dense fog shrouds Delhi; air quality lets up, 'very poor'

Dense fog blanketed Delhi early Tuesday, causing visibility to drop sharply in several areas, even as the air quality improved marginally to the ‘very poor’ category at 388.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a ‘yellow’ alert for the city till 9 am in view of the fog.

According to the weather office, visibility at Safdarjung stood at 100 metres at 7.30 am, which improved to 200 metres by 8.30 am.

At Palam, moderate fog was observed with visibility registered around 300 metres at 8.30 am, it added.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 388 on Tuesday morning, marking a marginal improvement from Monday, when the city's air quality stood at the ‘severe’ category with a reading of 401.

Data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app on Tuesday showed 16 air quality monitoring stations in the 'severe' category, while 21 stations recorded air quality in the 'very poor' category.

Jahangirpuri and Anand Vihar registered the worst air quality, with AQI levels touching 451, the data showed.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.

Delhi's air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is expected to deteriorate further to the ‘severe’ category on January 1, 2026, as per the Air Quality Early Warning System.

The outlook for the subsequent six days indicates that air quality is likely to stay in the ‘very poor’ range.

The minimum temperature in the city was recorded at 9.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning, with the IMD issuing an ‘orange’ alert and forecasting very dense fog during the day.

It said that the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius, and relative humidity levels are likely to remain near 100 per cent.

At the Palam station, the minimum temperature was registered at 8.1 degrees Celsius, followed by 8.6 degrees Celsius at the Ridge, 9.2 degrees Celsius at the Lodhi Road station, 9.4 degrees Celsius at the Safdarjung station, and 9.6 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar.

No rainfall was logged at any of the stations during the past 24 hours, the weather department informed.