North battles life-threatening smog, misery to continue for 10-15 days

New Delh – While parts of North India battle the life-threatening smog, there is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that apart from big cities, what the northern plains (including Punjab and Haryana) are witnessing is not smog but fog. And the bad news is that the weather situation in these cities (and that includes the National Capital Region Delhi and Chandigarh) is not going to get better anytime soon. In other words, people in these cities are in for a longer haul, at least the next 10 to 15 days, says meteorologist Mahesh Palwat of private forecaster Skymet.

Palwat says the winds that could have scattered the thick pollutants causing this deadly smog will not pick up speed, at least till Friday. But even after Friday the change will be just about minimal.

“The situation will continue for the next 10 to 15 days. It will gradually improve but not drastically,” he adds.

What is making the situation worse is the absence of a plausible Western Disturbance for at least next 10 to 15 days. The rains that could have settled the toxic pollutants are nowhere on the horizon in this period.