New Delhi (Sputnik): Sand blown from deserts of the western part of the country enveloped northern India for the fourth consecutive day; taking air pollution hazardous levels. More than seven thousands air travelers could not reach their desired destinations as dozens of domestic and international flight from Chandigarh and nearby airports remain suspended for the second consecutive day.
"At present, the situation is deteriorating over parts of Northwest India while Delhi is just on the fringes of this type of weather conditions. The reason for the sandy skies over the national capital and its adjoining boundaries can be attributed to the dust and sand particles being transported from the hotter regions of Rajasthan and Pakistan," Skymet, a private weather forecast agency said.
The dusty weather has made visibility poor across north India resulting in the cancellation of 32 flights on Friday from the Chandigarh airport.
There was a dust storm from Rajasthan which resulted in deterioration of air quality&high levels of PM 10.We issued an alert,convened a meeting of task force&gave advisory to state gvt.Situation should be normal in 1-2 days:Environment Min Dr Harsh Vardhan on air quality in Delhi pic.twitter.com/RkX6EVloaL
— ANI (@ANI) June 15, 2018
"The visibility was around 2000 meter during the day. It improved to 3000 meters by 3.30 pm (Indian Standard Time). The weather was hazy," Surender Paul, Director, Met Department, Chandigarh, said.
If you think dust haze is bad in Delhi this is taken just short of Chandigarh. pic.twitter.com/J6CG93f2TA
— K. C. Singh (@ambkcsingh) June 14, 2018
Levels of PM10 — dust and larger particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers — exceeded 900 per cubic meter in parts of Delhi and over 700 per cubic meter on Thursday. The WHO considers 50 900 per cubic meter the maximum safe level for PM10. The weather department has noticed a considerable jump in carcinogenic matters in the last three days and they expect it reducing only after rain over this weekend.
