Overview
- Delhi’s AQI held in the very poor band around 316–324 on Monday morning after a season-high 388 on Sunday and a 24-hour average of 366, with NCR cities like Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurugram also reporting very poor readings.
- Several hotspots crossed 400 on Sunday — including Wazirpur, Burari, Chandni Chowk, Vivek Vihar and RK Puram — and media reports on Monday cited hazardous spikes such as Holambi Khurd at 561 and Goutampuri at 408.
- The Air Quality Early Warning System projects very poor conditions through Monday, a likely severe day on Tuesday, and a return to very poor on Wednesday.
- Weak winds and inversion are trapping pollutants, with DSS indicating transport as the largest PM2.5 contributor (~18%) and a low stubble-burning share (~3.5%); PM2.5 was about 168 µg/m³ on Monday, far above WHO guidance.
- Authorities have activated short-term curbs, including Delhi’s restrictions on entry of polluting commercial goods vehicles under GRAP, while Punjab ordered all schools to open no earlier than 8:45 am from Nov 3 to Jan 31 with fines for violations.