Delhi’s air quality worsened sharply on Saturday, with several parts of the city recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) above 400 — a level categorised as ‘severe’. The toxic haze pushed the national capital into the ‘red zone’, making it one of the most polluted cities in the country.
Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed that Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI, measured at 4 pm, stood at 361, placing it second among the most polluted cities nationwide. On Friday, the city had recorded an AQI of 322, the highest in the country at the time.
Among the city’s 38 monitoring stations, pollution levels were particularly high in several areas. The AQI touched 420 at Wazirpur, 418 at Burari, 411 at Vivek Vihar, 406 at Nehru Naar, 404 at Alipur, and 402 at ITO — all falling in the ‘severe’ range, as per CPCB’s Sameer app.
The National Capital Region also continued to reel under poor air quality. Noida recorded an AQI of 354, Greater Noida 336, and Ghaziabad 339, all categorised as ‘very poor’.
PM2.5 and PM10 remained the dominant pollutants on Saturday, contributing to the thick smog blanketing the city. The Decision Support System (DSS) for air quality forecasting estimated that stubble burning accounted for nearly 30 per cent of Delhi’s pollution, while vehicular emissions made up 15.2 per cent.
Satellite imagery indicated 100 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab, 18 in Haryana, and 164 in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
Forecasts from the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi suggest that the city’s air is unlikely to improve soon, with the AQI expected to stay in the ‘very poor’ category in the coming days. Since Diwali, Delhi’s air quality has persistently oscillated between ‘poor’, ‘very poor’, and at times, ‘severe’.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI between 0–50 is considered “good”, 51–100 “satisfactory”, 101–200 “moderate”, 201–300 “poor”, 301–400 “very poor”, and 401–500 “severe”.
