The iconic Taj Mahal lost its luster behind a blanket of smog on Sunday morning as “very bad” AQI enveloped Agra. Visuals from the Taj View Point ADA showed smog enveloping the iconic monument with low visibility ranging from 50 to 200 meters.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, at 7:00 am the overall air quality index (AQI) in Agra was 390, just 11 points from the ‘severe’ category. However, several locations in the city reported AQIs in the “severe” range.
At 11:05 AM, the AQI improved as the overall air quality was 174. A total of five of the six monitoring stations recorded air quality in the “moderate” range, but the Sanjay Palace monitoring station had an AQI reading of 221, falling into the “poor” range.
Today’s weather in Agra
While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned of dense to very dense fog in some parts of Uttar Pradesh during the night and morning hours, Agra recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
The minimum temperature on December 21 is expected to be around 10 degrees Celsius, the maximum temperature will settle around 15 degrees Celsius.
Mist or fog is likely in the early morning till December 24, the IMD said. The Meteorological Agency has issued a red alert for Agra on Saturday. It lowered the cold wave warning to a yellow alert for Sunday. The IMD has predicted cold weather in eastern Uttar Pradesh and issued an orange alert.
The maximum temperature recorded a deviation of -4.5 from normal, while the minimum was 2.2 above normal on December 20.
The IMD issued a fog warning, saying in a post on X: “Dense to very dense fog is expected in several states of north and central India during the night and early morning hours. Reduced visibility likely – drive with caution.”
The IMD listed the following fog-affected areas with specific dates:
