Dry and arid conditions as well as "lifting of local dust" have led to a surge in air pollution in Delhi pushing it into the 'moderate' range on Tuesday following a spell of nearly two weeks of clean air in the national capital.
The weather department had on Monday predicted that the air quality would plunge from satisfactory category in the region due to the 'lifting of local Delhi dust.'
The overall Air Quality Index docked at 109, according to data compiled by System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).
"SAFAR model suggest the lifting of local Delhi dust will deteriorate AQI to moderate range by tomorrow. Though chance for any heavy dust storm is remote, long-range dust transport from the dry arid western region is expected by 15th April to further deteriorate AQI towards the lower end poor category with lead pollutant as PM10 and not PM2.5," said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
( With inputs from ANI )