Delhi sees dense fog, lowest minimum temperature of season; air quality 'severe'
New Delhi (PTI): A blanket of fog covered parts of Delhi for the second consecutive day on Thursday with the air quality index remaining in the 'severe' category, an official said.
The city recorded its lowest minimum temperature of the season so far at 16.1 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal, according to the weather department.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi's Air Quality Index at 9 am was 428, which falls in the 'severe' category.
"Of 39 monitoring stations in Delhi, 32 recorded air quality in the 'severe' category, with readings above 400. These stations include Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, IGI Airport, ITO, Mandir Marg, North Campus, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, and Pusa among others," an official said.
The air quality in Delhi on Wednesday was reported as the worst in the country, plunging into the 'severe' category for the first time this season.
The city's 24-hour AQI, recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 418 on Wednesday, up from 334 the previous day.
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", 401 and 450 "severe" and above 450 "severe plus".
A thick veil of fog blanketed the city on Wednesday morning, reducing visibility to zero and affecting flight operations. The situation improved slightly on Thursday as the visibility at the Delhi Airport at 8.30 am was 400 metres.
The weather department said the maximum temperature is expected to settle at around 29 degrees Celsius.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
