Delhi`s air quality slipped back to the `severe` category on Saturday morning with an AQI of 420 while the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.4 degrees Celsius. Out of 38 monitoring stations, nine recorded air quality in the `severe plus` category with AQI exceeding 450.

Delhi woke up to hazardous smog and severely reduced visibility on Saturday morning as the air quality index (AQI) reached 420, plunging back into the "severe" category. Many areas within the city reported dangerously high pollution levels,

At 6 am on Saturday, the CPCB recorded Delhi’s AQI at 419, which placed it back in the ‘severe’ category.

Whatever the causes of the smog, by one ranking Delhi was not just the most polluted city in the world, but “nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka,” in Bangladesh next door, as Shashi Tharoor, a leader of the opposition in Parliament and best-selling author, posted on X.

Unhealthy

Authorities in India’s capital have shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season.

The AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded as 457; the AQI in Ashok Vihar was 455; Chandni Chowk's AQI was 439 and RK Puram recorded an AQI of 421.

With the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reading 422 at 6 AM on Saturday, Delhi was once again engulfed in a dense layer of poisonous haze as the air quality fell into the "Severe" category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),

Experts attribute the deteriorating conditions to a mix of vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, and unfavourable weather patterns

A thick layer of smog engulfed the national capital on Friday while the air quality index in Delhi remained in the 'very poor' category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Drone visuals from the Mayur Vihar and Kalindi Kunj areas revealed the thick density of smog.