Met chief at IGI Airport says Green Revolution,pollution led to increase in moisture content and cloud condensation The fog,which seems to have become a regular feature over the past nine days,is a phenomenon observed in the city only post-1997,says R K Jenamani,Director-in-Charge of the Meteorology Department (IGI Airport). Jenamani is set to publish an academic paper on the phenomenon and claims that the dense fog,that remains for days at a stretch,was first observed in December 1997. According to him,the phenomenon is partly an after-effect of the Green Revolution. Jenamanis observations come on a day when the city braved the chilliest day of the season,with the maximum temperature sliding to 11 degrees Celsius. The 1,50,000-sq km Indo-Gangetic plain used to be dry in the December-January period. The improvement in irrigation in the 1970s meant that the moisture content increased. This,combined with the pollution in the region,causes cloud condensation, he says. When it first made an appearance in 1997,the fog cover reportedly stayed for a month. Before that,the sun would melt the clouds by afternoon. Now,the wind merely blows them away for sometime and they return soon after, says Jenamani. Director of the Meteorology Department B P Yadav,meanwhile,said he had not studied with the phenomenon,and therefore,was not in a position to verify the weathermans observation. Yadav,however,says the the fog will stay for a while as the IMD is expecting another Western Disturbance on January12. Night-time temperatures will rise,and since the wind is likely to get stronger,it could blow the clouds away temporarily, he says. The Met officials have predicted Monday to be cold and windy. While Sundays maximum temperature was 10 degrees Celsius below normal,the minimum was recorded at five degrees Celsius,two degrees below normal. Low temperatures,coupled with icy winds,have resulted in at least three deaths since December 26 in the Capital,sources said.
