Rain brings relief to Delhi, but air quality ‘very poor’ & flights diverted due to inclement weather

NEW DELHI: The first reaction to a meagre rain in Delhi on Monday was a sigh of relief – from pollution amid clear indication of a winter struggling to set in. In the evening, though, there was a little disturbance in the flight schedules at Delhi airport where 16 flights on the way to the national capital were diverted due to inclement weather and air traffic congestion.

Thundershowers and hailstorms resulted in a slight improvement in the air quality, officials said. Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) read 395 at 4 pm. The AQI at 9 pm was 391. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe.’

Airport officials said six flights were diverted to Jaipur airport; two to Lucknow while one was directed to Ahmedabad. The route diversion included a Vistara flight from Kolkata to Delhi. “All such diverted flights were slated for arrival between 6-7 pm,” an official said. Vistara explained the diversion on X (formerly Twitter) and said escalating air traffic congestion, which airports often face, is due to adverse weather.

The city’s air quality was nearing the severe category on Monday morning with calm winds and cloudy conditions trapping pollutants, according to monitoring agencies. The regional weather office had forecast light rain in a few areas in Delhi and surrounding regions. India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientist RK Jenamani said the clouds over Delhi will persist till Tuesday. “The western disturbance created due to intense circulation over central Pakistan led to the cloud formation over Delhi,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to Skymetweather.com, the cloudy weather conditions will persist for the next four days. The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season’s average. The day began with a windy morning and a forecast for a cloudy sky with light rain. The relative humidity at 8.30 am was reported to be 97%.

Senior Scientist RK Jenamani said temperature is expected to fall by 2-3 degrees at night. Fog will increase in Delhi-NCR, UP, Haryana and Punjab from November 28. According to a joint project by the Delhi government and the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, biomass burning was the top reason for Delhi’s foul air, contributing 31 to 51% to the capital’s air pollution in the last few days. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has directed departments concerned to ensure strict implementation of curbs on polluting vehicles and check the increasing incidents of biomass burning.

Dip in temp forecast
Weatherman has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Tuesday, with the possibility of shallow fog in the morning. Maximum and minimum temperatures may settle around 25 degrees Celsius

Risk of rain

•  16 flights en-route to Delhi were diverted
•  10 flights were diverted to Jaipur
•  3 flights to Lucknow
•  2 to Ahmedabad
•  1 to Amritsar

All diverted flights were slated for landing between 6 pm and 8 pm