Toxic air grips Delhi for 10th day; AQI touches 380, several areas in ‘severe’ zone

New Delhi: There was little respite from hazardous air in Delhi on Sunday, with the national capital recording its tenth consecutive day of ‘very poor’ air quality. The city logged an average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 380, slightly worse than Saturday's levels, while several locations slipped into the ‘severe’ category.

Early morning readings highlighted the situation with Jahangirpuri registered an AQI of 438, Bawana 431, Anand Vihar 427, and Ashok Vihar 421, all classified as severe. In the NCR region, Noida hovered near the severe threshold with an AQI of 396, while Greater Noida recorded 380 (very poor) and Ghaziabad remained severely polluted at 426.

Gurugram (286) and Faridabad (228) posted relatively better figures, falling in the poor category.

CAQM revises GRAP; severe-level restrictions moved to Stage III

Amid worsening conditions, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Saturday announced revisions to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
According to a press release, measures previously reserved for the ‘severe’ category under Stage IV will now be implemented at Stage III.

These include:

• Ensuring uninterrupted power supply to curb diesel generator usage
• Deploying additional enforcement teams at traffic congestion hotspots
• Pollution alerts across media platforms
• Expansion of CNG and electric public transport, increased frequency, and differential fares to boost off-peak travel

Several restrictions earlier part of Stage III for the ‘very poor’ category will now be part of Stage II, including staggered working hours for government offices in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
The Centre is also considering staggered timings for central government offices.

In addition, restrictions originally applicable during Stage IV—such as allowing public, municipal and private offices to operate with 50% of staff on-site, with the rest working from home—will now be triggered at Stage III.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has directed private offices to operate with 50 per cent staff physically present, advising others to work remotely as a precaution.

Delhi declares public holiday on November 25

In a separate announcement, the Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta declared a public holiday on November 25 (Tuesday) to observe the 350th martyrdom day of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

According to an official release, “the decision aims to provide citizens with an opportunity to pay homage to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's supreme sacrifice, spiritual teachings and unwavering commitment to protecting humanity and religious freedom.”