With no respite forthcoming from the toxic air pervading across the the national capital, the residents of Delhi had no option but to breathe in the air with an average quality index reeling under the ‘very poor’ category on Friday.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily AQI bulletin released on Friday, the index value of national capital was recorded at 369.
The primary pollutants in the city’s air were the PM 2.5 particles, as per the pollution monitoring agency, and the figures were based on the readings from 39 air monitoring stations across the city.
The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s (IITM) air quality early warning system for Delhi says that AQI is likely to be in the Very Poor category from Friday to Monday.
“The air quality is likely to be in the Very Poor category from 28.11.2025 to 01.12.2025. The outlook for the subsequent 6 Days: The air quality is likely to be in the Very Poor category,” IITM’s forecast said.
On Wednesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the NCR and adjoining areas (CAQM) had revoked the stage III measures of its Graded Response Action Plan, after the air quality had shown some improvement.
However, the GRAP stage I & II remained in effect, and on Friday the commission asked everyone to adhere to the measures, emphasizing on adopting clean construction and demolition (C&D) activities.
Notably, with the GRAP I & II in effect, construction or demolition activities at projects of more than 500 square meters are not permitted, unless they are registered with state/GNCTD web portal, and meet the necessary dust mitigation and monitoring measures.
The civic agencies have been asked to intensify use of anti-smog guns and sprinkling to curb the dust and disperse pollutants.
Meanwhile, towns adjoining Delhi, like Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Noida, and Greater Noida also are reeling under AQI falling in the ‘very poor’ category. However, Faridabad’s AQI was recorded at 190, below the ‘moderate’ category.
As for the weather, the minimum temperature in the national capital on Friday was 8.1 degrees C, while the maximum was 25.9 degrees C, according to the India Meteorological Department.
For Saturday, the weatherman has forecast mainly clear sky, shallow fog and most places with moderate fog at isolated places during the morning hours.
The maximum and the minimum temperature on Saturday is likely to hover around 25 and 10 degrees C, respectively, IMD said.
According to the weather agency, the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to fall from December 3 and 5 by 2- 3 °C. “Both minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to be below normal to appreciably below normal (02-05°C) during the above period,” IMD suggested.