People in northern Indian states woke to a chilly Sunday morning with fog and haze engulfing cities and forcing in a delay of trains and flights.
Delhi, the national capital, recorded 3.7 degrees Celsius – the coldest day this December.
There was a drop in visibility in areas around Rajpath and New Delhi railway station. Reports say that visibility at 8.30 am was 500 metres.
Thick fog blanketed the cities of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and Amritsar in Punjab.
At least five flights were delayed from Amritsar and flight operations were rescheduled to begin at 1 pm at Chandigarh International Airport due to fog conditions.
Conditions in neighbouring Haryana were the same where biting cold forced many to stay indoors in the morning.
Temperatures in many cities plummeted with Karnal recording 0 degree Celsius today.
Gurugram recorded 1.4 degree Celsius, Hisar recorded 2.7 degree Celsius and Rohtak recorded 3.8 degree Celsius.
With the cold came the haze. Delhi’s air quality, already among the worst in the world, remained ‘severe’.
The 94 per cent humidity prevented the dispersal of pollutants.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi’s average Air Quality Index at 8 am was 441 with major pollutants being PM2.5 and PM10.
The AQI at Mundka, Anand Vihar and Delhi Institute of Engineering was between 968 and 999 at 10 am on Sunday. It was above 700 in some other areas.
The maximum temperature was likely to hover around 21 degree Celsius, according to weather.com
Saturday’s maximum temperature was 21.8 degree Celsius, average for the season, while the minimum temperature was 4 degree Celsius, four notches below average.