Winter tightened its grip on Delhi even as the national capital recorded a marginal improvement in air quality on Tuesday, ending its latest spell of “very poor” conditions.
The city woke up to foggy skies and rising chill, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning that a more intense cold snap is set to sweep northern and central India this week.
Delhi’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 293, improving from 318 a day earlier but still firmly in the “poor” category.
Several monitoring stations continued to report “very poor” readings, with pollution hotspots Anand Vihar at 319 and Bawana at 343. The city had logged an AQI of 308 on Sunday, extending weeks of toxic air that have shrouded residents in smog.
A minimum temperature of 10 degrees and a maximum of 25 degrees Celsius have been forecast for Tuesday, but the IMD warned that the mercury is expected to drop further over the next two days, intensifying the chill.
COLD WAVE CONDITIONS
Cold conditions persisted across the northern states, with the Amarnath Yatra base camp in Jammu and Kashmir emerging as the coldest recorded location at minus 4.3 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave conditions are “very likely” in isolated pockets of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, Chhattisgarh and Odisha from Tuesday through December 12, the IMD said. Temperatures have dipped in these states in recent days.
Parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan reported minimum temperatures between 3 and 7 degrees Celsius.
A weak western disturbance may bring partly cloudy skies to Rajasthan, with a slight rise of 2-3 degrees in minimum temperatures expected.
FRESH SNOWFALL IN HIMACHAL
A cold wave swept through the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh, where Rohtang Pass and surrounding areas received fresh snowfall on Monday.
Authorities officially closed the Manali-Leh road beyond Darcha, a routine winter shutdown due to unsafe conditions. The route will reopen around May-June, officials said.
The Gramphoo-Losar road has also been closed. Snowfall brought some cheer to local communities despite slippery stretches restricting movement.
– Ends
Published By:
Devika Bhattacharya
Published On:
Dec 9, 2025
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