National Capital Region dwellers woke to a nightmare scenario Tuesday – visibility near zero from blanket fog, air turning lethally poisonous with AQI breaching 450, and a ruthless cold snap refusing to relent.
Key monitoring stations flashed red alerts: Lodhi Road at 452 AQI, RK Puram at 467. The ‘severe plus’ classification signals immediate health threats, where even healthy adults face risks from prolonged exposure.
Fog played villain supreme, grounding flights and stranding motorists. Delhi’s airport issued NOTAMs for low-visibility procedures, resulting in hour-long delays. NH-44 witnessed epic jams stretching kilometers, with ambulances struggling to navigate.
Meteorologists explain the phenomenon through ‘radiative cooling’ – clear nights dropping temperatures sharply, moisture condensing into fog, and calm winds acting as a lid on pollutants. Agricultural fire hotspots in northern India added fuel to the inferno.
Temperatures hovered dangerously low: 4.2°C in the city core, dipping to 2°C in satellite towns. This chill boosts pollution by condensing harmful gases and particles closer to breathing zones.
Response protocols kicked into overdrive. Supreme Court-mandated CAQM banned all non-essential diesel use, halted mining operations, and intensified patrolling against illegal waste burning. Schools, colleges emptied physically; work-from-home became norm for most.
Medical professionals sound alarms: vulnerable populations could see spike in cardiovascular events alongside respiratory distress. Pharmacies report masks and inhalers flying off shelves.
The forecast offers scant hope – more fog banks rolling in, AQI unlikely to dip below ‘very poor’ anytime soon. This recurring apocalypse demands radical shifts: promoting electric mobility, enforcing crop diversification incentives, investing in green tech. For now, NCR survives on borrowed breath.