New Delhi: Cold and pollution have raised concerns in the national capital Delhi. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Monday, November 18. The department has predicted dense fog and cold winds. Along with this, given the continuously deteriorating air quality, it has been decided to implement GRAP-4 (Graded Response Action Plan).

The situation worsened due to increasing pollution.

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 441 on Sunday, which falls in the severe category. This figure has made Delhi the second most polluted city in the country. Bahadurgarh in Haryana recorded the highest AQI of 445, while Delhi's AQI was 441. Other severely polluted cities include Bhiwani (415) in Haryana and Bikaner (404) in Rajasthan. Out of 40 monitoring stations in Delhi, 32 reported air quality in the severe category.

The cold knocked

There are signs of cold increasing in Delhi. On Saturday, November 16, the minimum temperature was recorded at 15.3 degrees Celsius, which was the coldest day so far this season. According to IMD, the maximum temperature was 29.6 degrees Celsius, which is 1.1 degrees above normal. Along with this, there was dense fog on Saturday night and morning. On Sunday morning, visibility in Safdarjung decreased to 300 meters.

Impact in neighboring states too

Along with Delhi, the Meteorological Department has also warned of fog in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Chandigarh. The department has said that dense fog may occur in these areas from the night of November 17 to the morning of November 18, which is likely to persist for the next 24 hours. Cold winds in Delhi-NCR and snowfall in neighboring states have intensified the cold. Strong winds blew in Noida on Sunday night, which indicates severe cold in the coming days. Now people will have to be cautious to avoid both pollution and cold.