Overview
- Delhi’s citywide AQI improved to 291 on November 4 and hovered in the ‘poor’ range on November 5 morning (roughly 228–281), even as several stations recently touched ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ levels.
- Authorities cited stronger winds for the brief improvement and said enforcement under GRAP-2 has intensified, with more than 20,000 challans for polluting vehicles and restrictions on non‑compliant commercial entries.
- The Delhi government reported large-scale deployments to control dust and emissions, including about 1,200 enforcement teams, 390 anti‑smog guns, 280 sprinklers and 76 mechanical road sweepers.
- CREA’s October snapshot ranked Delhi sixth with a monthly PM2.5 average of 107 µg/m³—nearly triple September’s 36—while Haryana’s Dharuhera led with 123 µg/m³, breaching the national limit on 77% of days and logging two ‘severe’ and nine ‘very poor’ days.
- Nationally, air quality deteriorated in October with the Indo‑Gangetic Plain worst affected; out of 249 cities, 212 were under India’s NAAQS but only six met the WHO daily guideline, and ‘Good’ cities fell from 179 in September to 68, with forecasts warning of a possible return to ‘very poor’ conditions.