Delhi-NCR struggling to breathe amid dense fog; IMD warns of rain across North, East India

Delhi and its surrounding NCR cities are in the grip of toxic smog as the air quality reached ‘severe’ category on Thursday. The city is facing the triple challenge of falling temperatures, dense smog and worsening pollution.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Anand Vihar recorded AQI of 408, while Vivek Vihar recorded 415. Despite cloud seeding operations this week, there was no improvement in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR.

Apart from this, many areas in India will see widespread rain and storm today.

The impact of Cyclone Montha is now being felt in many parts of North India.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), light to moderate rain and thundershowers are likely over Bihar and Jharkhand, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over Bihar.

Moderate rain and lightning may also occur over Gangetic West Bengal and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim.

Apart from this, there is a possibility of thunder, lightning and strong winds with speed of 30 to 40 km per hour in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Rain and storm will continue over Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra, including Uttar Pradesh, where isolated heavy rain and thundershowers with lightning and gusty winds are likely.

Light rain activity may commence over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya, which is likely to intensify till October 31.

The maximum temperature in Delhi is likely to remain between 29 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature may remain between 17 degrees Celsius and 19 degrees Celsius.

According to IMD, there may be drizzle in Delhi-NCR on Thursday and partly cloudy sky on October 31. As far as Noida is concerned, the city is expected to remain cloudy throughout the day on October 30. However, there is no warning of rain yet.