Weather Today LIVE: Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said, “No odd-even if air improves, final call on Monday.” (Reuters)
Weather forecast Today Highlights: The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘severe’ category on Saturday, with the overall figure measuring 505 on the Air Quality Index (AQI), according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
At Lodhi Road, PM2.5 level is 599 and PM10 is 521, while in Chandni Chowk it is 440 and 419, respectively. In adjoining areas of Noida, PM2.5 is 471 and PM10 is 500.
On Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that with agencies predicting a dip in pollution levels in the capital, there may not be a need to extend the odd-even scheme, in force from November 4-15.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted Western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation over Afghanistan and neighbourhood extending between 3.1 & 4.5 km above mean sea level persists.Under its influence, fairly widespread to widespread rain and snow with isolated heavy rainfall is likely over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh during the next 24 hours. Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning is also predicted at isolated places over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal.
Strong winds on Saturday abated the smog lingering over Delhi-NCR for the last four days, resulting in a decline in pollution levels. The air quality index of the national capital read 357 at 4 pm on Saturday, around 100 notches less than Friday's AQI. The suburbs of Ghaziabad (347), Greater Noida (309), Gurgaon (360), Faridabad (358) and Noida (338) also recorded a dip in pollution levels. "Strong surface winds, gusting up to 25 km/hour, blew in the region, reducing the smog and bringing slight relief. "Windy conditions are expected on Sunday as well and the air quality will improve further in the next two days," Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, said. (PTI)
The pollution level continued to remain a cause of concern in Haryana and Punjab on Saturday, with several districts reporting air quality indices in the 'very poor' and 'poor' categories. Gurgaon and Faridabad in Haryana were the worst-affected cities, reporting air quality index (AQI) at 372 and 369 respectively, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The air quality in Manesar and Rohtak was 338 each, while it was 326 and 311 in Jind and Bahadurgarh respectively. Hisar and Panipat reported their respective AQIs at 287 and 292, the CPCB said. Punjab reported air quality in the 'poor' and 'moderate' categories. The respective AQIs in Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala stood at 251, 103, 158, 158 and 117, as per the data. Chandigarh witnessed air quality index at 144. (PTI)
The West Bengal government on Saturday handed over reports on the impact of cyclone 'Bulbul' to a central team that had surveyed the affected areas in the state, a senior official said. Representatives of the team met chief secretary Rajiva Sinha and other senior officials at the state secretariat, the official said. "Reports on losses incurred in North and South 24 Parganas and East Medinipur districts due to the storm and requirement in those areas were handed over to the team. We would submit a separate report to the Centre," he said. Representatives of the central team had made ground visits and conducted aerial surveys of the areas, besides meeting district officials. (PTI)
The Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for the third day on Saturday as heavy rains hampered the operation to clear the debris brought on the arterial road by a massive landslide in Ramban district, officials said. The closure of the highway left thousands of vehicles, including trucks carrying essential commodities to Kashmir, stranded, traffic department officials said. A massive landslide struck the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with rest of the country, at Digdole around 9 pm on Thursday, forcing closure of the road. (PTI)
The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 16.1 degrees Celsius while humidity was 82 per cent. The weatherman has forecast mainly clear skies for the day with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 28 degrees Celsius. There is also a possibility of strong surface winds. Delhi was blanketed by a thick smog for four consecutive days till Friday as unfavourable weather hampered dispersion of pollutants.
The national capital witnessed a dip in pollution levels on Saturday morning even as the air quality in the city remained in the "severe" category. The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi at 8.40 am on Saturday stood at 412 against an AQI of 467 at 10 am on Friday. The AQI in Faridabad was 427, Ghaziabad 424, Greater Noida 377, Noida 411 and Gurgaon 420. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301-400 'very poor' and 401-500 'severe'.
In all, 20,754 wells, mostly located in talukas in districts outside Marathwada, show increased groundwater levels, reveals GSDA’s Probability Drinking Water Scarcity Report of October 2019.
“The night temperatures in Vidarbha and Marathwada will drop in the coming days. Some cities in Marathwada recorded a drop by three notches in the minimum temperatures,” the official said.
After bountiful rain during monsoon this year, 67 per cent of wells in Maharashtra have shown an appreciable rise in groundwater levels, according to the latest report by the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA). The GSDA surveys all of the 32,769 wells in Maharashtra four times a year. The agency’s pre-monsoon (May) and post-monsoon (October) reports are considered especially crucial in planning water usage measures. Read More
Recording 14.5 degrees Celsius, Nagpur remained the coldest city on Friday followed by Aurangabad, Osmanabad and Washim at 14.8 degrees Celsius, Akola at 15 degrees Celsius and Mahabaleshwar at 15.5 degrees Celsius.
Winter may have set in across Maharashtra but Pune and its neighbouring areas may have to wait slightly longer to feel the chill. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the moisture levels were high at present and the city might experience light rain in the form of drizzle during the weekend. Read More
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday said that with agencies predicting a dip in pollution levels in the capital, there may not be a need to extend the odd-even scheme, in force from November 4-15. However, he added if the air quality does not improve as per forecast, the government will review the situation Monday morning and take a call on whether or not to extend the scheme. Read More
Having started the process to award cash incentive to farmers who have not set fire to paddy stubble on their fields, as per a Supreme Court order, the Punjab government is likely to ask Centre to reimburse the amount it thus spends. The state government has set aside a corpus of Rs 500 crore under the head. The government has so far disbursed Rs 19.09 crore to 29,343 non-basmati paddy cultivating small and marginal farmers who did not burn the paddy residue, as per the information it submitted in the Supreme Court Friday. Read More
Welcome to our LIVE blog. The air quality in Delhi remained in the ‘severe’ category on Saturday, with the overall figure measuring 505 on the Air Quality Index (AQI), according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). Follow to get all the latest updates here!