Smog engulfs parts of Delhi, reduces visibility
Dec 13, 2020
New Delhi [India], December 13 : As winters make landfall in North India, a thick layer of smog shrouded parts of Delhi and its neighbouring region on Sunday morning decreasing visibility significantly.
Deepanshu Pandey, a local, who was out for a morning walk, said, "It gets really foggy early in the morning. I along with my friends prefer to walk early in the morning. Due to the pandemic, we wear face masks and keep sanitizing our hands-on timely intervals."
"To add to the problem, we wear masks while cycling due to the COVID-19 pandemic which makes the breathing process difficult", he added.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that dense fog will continue to hover over the city for the next three days.
According to India Meteorological Department, "Dense to very dense fog in isolated pockets is very likely over Uttar Pradesh during the next 5 days and over Uttarakhand during next 3 days and dense fog in isolated pockets over plains of Himachal Pradesh, North Rajasthan, North Madhya Pradesh during next 2 days and over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi during the next 3 days."
Vikas, a local who was seen cycling on the roads, said, "In summers, I along with my friends used to step outside our homes even before the sunrise. But due to the pollution and fog, we prefer to step outside our houses after sunrise. As a cyclist, it is important for me to have some visibility."
Another local said, "It gets very difficult to drive early in the morning as the visibility is quite low due to the fog."
Deepak, a local, said, "I prefer to jog every morning. Due to pollution and fog, it gets very difficult to breathe."
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), "The Air Quality Index in Delhi stands at 344 and continues to remain in the 'very poor category'."
An AQI between 0-50 is marked good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 is moderate, 201- 300 is poor, 301-400 is very poor and 401-500 is considered severe.
'Very Poor' AQI indicates ambient concentration values of air pollutants are very high and their likely health impacts include respiratory illness on prolonged exposure while the 'Severe' category air affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.
