Overview
- Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI read 404–405 on Thursday, with 25–28 of 39 stations in the ‘severe’ bracket and readings as high as 460 in Bawana and 455 in Chandni Chowk.
- Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan remains in force across NCR, halting non-essential construction, restricting BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers, and shifting primary classes to hybrid mode.
- IITM’s Decision Support System estimated stubble burning contributed a season-high 22.47% to Delhi’s PM2.5 on Wednesday, easing to roughly 10–12% on Thursday as transport emissions rose.
- A Supreme Court bench called the situation “very serious,” advised virtual appearances, and directed Punjab and Haryana to file status reports on anti-burning measures ahead of a November 17 hearing.
- Meteorologists cited calm winds, falling temperatures and nighttime inversion trapping pollutants, with forecasts suggesting only marginal relief even as models repeatedly underestimated the day’s severity.