NEW DELHI: Delhi woke to another toxic blanket on Friday as air quality in the city and adjoining NCR plunged into the “very poor” to “severe” categories, with multiple monitoring stations recording AQI readings above 400. The Central Pollution Control Board’s early-morning snapshot showed the citywide composite at about 384, while hotspots such as Mundka (436) and Rohini (432) were in the “severe” range, and as many as 19 of Delhi’s 39 stations crossed the 400 mark at 8:00 am.
Traffic corridors and open spaces were shrouded in a low, yellowish smog that residents described as stinging and visibility-limiting; Anand Vihar, a busy transport hub, registered readings around 408, underscoring how pollution concentrated along arterial and industrial zones. Meteorological conditions — a cold, still morning with shallow boundary-layer mixing — coupled with fresh emissions and regional transport from neighbouring areas, were cited as major drivers of the spike.
Outside the capital, satellite urban clusters saw similar deterioration: Noida crossed into the “severe” bracket with readings above 400, while Greater Noida and parts of Ghaziabad reported “very poor” levels, signaling a widening public-health risk across the National Capital Region.
Forecasts from the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) indicate that pollution levels are expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ bracket for the rest of the week.