Dense fog hampers visibility in Delhi, UP, Chandigarh, Rajasthan

Dense fog completely engulfed parts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on Sunday night, causing poor visibility on the streets.

"Dense to very dense fog observed over East Uttar Pradesh and moderate to dense fog over Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, northwest Rajasthan, northwest Madhya Pradesh, West Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam and Meghalaya at 11.30 pm on January 17," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) tweeted.

As per the department, the visibility was recorded at 25 in Varanasi at 11 pm on Sunday.

"Visibility recorded at 2330 hours IST of 17 January: Varanasi-25 meters; Amritsar, Dehradun, Gaya, Baharich-50 each; Chandigarh, Bareilly, Lucknow, Tezpur-200 meters each; Ganganagar, Ambala, Patiala, Delhi-Palam, Gwalior, Bhagalpur-500 meters each," it said.

Meanwhile, the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said that the overall Delhi air quality has improved to the 'very poor' category. "Surface winds are moderate and East Northeasterly. The better wind speed has helped to improved dispersion. The air quality is likely to stay in the same very poor category for the next two days."

Further improvement is expected on January 20 in the lower end of the very poor to poor category.

The air quality of Mumbai is in the poor category. Due to low wind speed, Mumbai Air Quality Index (AQI) is forecasted to remain in moderate to poor for next 2 days. Moreover, Ahmedabad's AQI is in moderate range and with influence from continental air and dust, the city's AQI will be in the moderate range for the next 2 days, while AQI of Pune is in moderate category and with lowering of wind speed and influence of continental pollution, AQI is predicted to be moderate for next 2 days in Pune, the SAFAR said.

( With inputs from ANI )