PM 2.5 levels and PM 10 levels recorded a year-on-year reduction, according to the city’s Economic Survey released on 23 March by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
The sudden spike in the city’s air quality began over the weekend, when the AQI jumped from 172 on Friday to 246 on Saturday, plunging the city into 'poor' air quality.
The city also recorded its first spell of fog Monday. Visibility as low as 50 metres early in the morning disrupted dozens of flights across the region.
Organisers rescheduled the GSI Cyclothon to February 2026, citing hazardous air barely a day before the event. It’s only one of the many affected events of the season.
On Thursday, the Delhi government asked the commission on air quality management to recall the refuelling ban imposed on July 1 this year, following public backlash.
Cleanest air recorded this year in Delhi was on 13 September, when AQI touched 52. Levels of ultrafine particulate matter or PM2.5 are increasing every year.
Several officers on daily duty continue to suffer from cough, throat aches & burning eyes. Health experts argue exposure to pollution can lead to permanent lung damage & more.
Till Saturday, a majority of Delhi’s pollution load was from stubble fires (25.10%), followed by vehicular emission (12.58%), & contamination from neighbouring states.
According to the earth sciences ministry, Delhi’s overall score on an air quality index (AQI) was ‘very poor’ at 384 and was likely to stay there until Thursday.
Since the bulk of citizens did not regard drinking as a crime, they had no respect for the prohibition laws and did not cooperate with the police, wrote MV Venkata Rao in 1962.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
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