Respite Over? Delhi's AQI On Brink Of 'Severe' Again

Delhi AQI Back To 'almost Severe' After A Brief Respite

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

The Capital's air quality returned to the deep red zone on Thursday to end November on a sooty note as a thick, gray haze again shrouded Delhi's sky, and calm winds negated the washout effect that had helped drive out pollutants after rains at the beginning of the week.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) spiked rapidly on Thursday, recording a grim 398 (very poor) according to the 24-hour rolling average at 4pm - an unswerving 100-point rise from Wednesday's 290 at the same time.

This further deteriorated to 401 in the "severe" zone by 7pm on Thursday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

The acute deterioration in air quality came a day after Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai directed that Stages 1 and 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) be enforced strictly, even as Stages 3 and 4 were withdrawn despite forecasts by the early warning system (EWS) that it was likely to remain "very poor" in the coming days.