Delhi’s air remains ‘severe’ for second day; stubble smoke contribution peaks at 22% this season

Residents of the national capital on Wednesday woke up to another day of burning eyes and breathing discomfort as the air quality index (AQI) remained in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day.

While Delhi’s 24-hour rolling average AQI data was unavailable on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website, the Sameer app showed a reading of 418 at 6 p.m., placing it firmly in the ‘severe’ range.

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According to CPCB’s classification, an AQI between 400 and 500 is considered ‘severe’, posing health risks even to healthy individuals and causing serious respiratory problems among those with pre-existing conditions.

To prevent further deterioration, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Tuesday invoked Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the National Capital Region (NCR) with immediate effect.

The enforcement includes a ban on private construction and demolition activities, along with restrictions on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel four-wheelers in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Budh Nagar.

Despite the implementation of GRAP Stage 3, 32 of Delhi’s 39 monitoring stations recorded ‘severe’ air quality, with Wazirpur (464) being the worst affected. Several other stations also reported AQI levels above 450.

Data from the Decision Support System (DSS) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on Wednesday indicated a sharp rise in the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels — reaching 22.47 percent, the highest this season and surpassing the previous peak of 15.46 percent.

Meanwhile, the Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) forecast that the AQI is likely to improve to the ‘very poor’ category by Thursday and remain there until Saturday. The outlook for the following six days also predicts ‘very poor’ air quality.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), shallow fog is expected in the early hours on Thursday, accompanied by winds up to 20 km/h. Delhi’s minimum temperature was recorded at 10.4°C, three degrees below normal, with similar levels expected on Thursday and a further drop to 8–10°C over the weekend. The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 27.7°C and is likely to hover between 25°C and 27°C on Thursday.