By Tasneem Bandukwala
On the 15th of December in the morning, the national capital, Delhi, recorded one of the highest Air Quality Index levels in the history of the city.
A thick fog was seen in the city. This reduced visibility to a large extent. Because of this, air travel was affected too. Air India and IndiGo airline companies issued notifications about a possible delay in flights.
With the rise of Delhi’s winter fog, IndiGo Airlines has issued a travel notice for passengers due to less visibility at the airport in Delhi. The airline stated that with the existence of different weather, levels of reduced visibility have started impacting flight operations. Due to this factor, some flights may see higher waiting times during departure. However, IndiGo Airlines did state that their ground handling and support staff are on standby to support travellers, taking into account passenger travel plans and timings.
Air India also put out a message saying, “Poor visibility due to dense fog is impacting flight operations in Delhi and parts of North India. Please check your flight status at airindia.com/in/en/manage/flight-status.html before heading to the airport.”
On Sunday, citizens in the capital city of India were faced with a dangerous level of air quality. This is due to the thick blanket of poisonous smog covering the city. The capital city had become a gas chamber. Especially with air quality indices dropping significantly and entering the ‘severe-plus’ level for the first time this year.
High levels of moisture in the atmosphere and a lack of wind movement have caused pollutants to be locked into the lower atmosphere, with a grey smog making it impossible for the sun to shine in most parts of the day. Forecasts from meteorology indicate that wind movement might increase slightly after Monday noon.
Air quality in Delhi was very dangerous. Its levels were measured with an Air Quality Index varying between 535 and 696, which put it squarely in “Very Poor” category. The highest level recorded in a day touched a staggering 724 at 2:04 am on Monday, and the lowest level remained dangerously high at 483 recorded at 3:04 pm, which saw steep variations over 24 hours.
“Stay indoors, keep windows shut, and operate air purifiers,” advise health notifications for children, senior citizens, and people with respiratory and heart ailments. While guidelines for other people include staying indoors and avoiding outdoor activity if possible, using an N95 or N99 mask if going out, and consulting meteorological sites for any emergency notifications and updates on air quality levels.