AQI suddenly touches 500 mark in Delhi-NCR; here's what happened
What's the story
Delhi and its neighboring areas, including Noida and Gurugram, have been experiencing a severe dip in air quality.
The latest plunge has been attributed to a dust storm that hit the region on Wednesday night (May 14).
The strong winds, gusting at 30-40km/h, have also left thousands of residents uncomfortable.
People have complained of breathing difficulties, irritation in eyes, coughing, etc.
Flight disruptions
Dust storm impacts flight operations at IGI Airport
The dust storm also disrupted flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Visibility at the airport reduced from 4,500m to 1,200m between 10:00 pm-11:30pm on Wednesday.
However, it improved marginally to 1,500m on Thursday morning due to westerly winds blowing at a speed of 10km/h, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Weather update
IMD provides updates on visibility conditions
Giving an update on the situation, IMD senior scientist RK Jenamani said, "There were sudden gusty winds of 30-40km/h. This spell became almost calm with winds of 3-7km/h."
He added, "The visibility remained poor between 1,200m and 1,500m at Safdarjung and Palam with dust in the air."
However, the IMD had predicted that visibility would improve as the day progressed.
Air quality alert
AQI reaches hazardous levels in Delhi-NCR
The Air Quality Index (AQI) at 10:00am on Thursday stood at 249, which is in the "poor" category according to data from SAFAR.
However, in some areas of Delhi-NCR, the real-time AQI was much worse, nearing the hazardous mark of 500, WION reported.
Gurugram (121), Noida (113), Greater Noida (112), and Ghaziabad (107) all reported a drop in air quality, although they managed to stay in the "moderate" zone.
Weather forecast
Forecast for Thursday: Warm weather with possible wind
Weather forecast for Thursday evening is partly cloudy weather, but it will remain warm with a maximum hovering around 40-42°C.
On Friday, light rain and wind speeds up to 50 km/h are expected.
This month, Delhi had 91.2mm of rainfall, about three times the long-period average of 30.7mm in May.