Delhi woke up to a foggy Monday morning as a cold wave intensified across the city, with the minimum temperature dropping to 7.0 degrees Celsius, bringing a distinct winter chill. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a cloudy sky with light rain expected later in the day, and maximum temperatures likely to reach around 24 degrees Celsius. Alongside the weather concerns, air quality in the capital showed slight improvement, moving from the ‘severe’ to the ‘very poor’ category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 389, compared to Sunday’s alarming AQI of 409, classified as ‘severe.’
Delhi’s air pollution levels saw a significant spike over the weekend, with Saturday’s AQI at 370 in the ‘very poor’ range and Sunday recording dangerously high PM2.5 concentrations. Nearly all monitoring stations reported air quality in the ‘severe plus’ category, highlighting the persistence of harmful pollutants like PM2.5, which can penetrate deeply into the lungs. Prolonged exposure to such levels poses severe health risks, especially for vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those with respiratory ailments.
To combat this pollution crisis, Delhi remains under Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which enforces strict measures like a complete ban on construction activities and restrictions on non-essential polluting trucks entering the city. Despite these efforts, the city’s air quality continues to fluctuate between ‘very poor’ and ‘severe,’ underscoring the challenges of addressing its chronic pollution problem. An AQI of 0-50 is deemed ‘good,’ while 301-400 falls under ‘very poor,’ and 401-500 is categorized as ‘severe,’ reflecting the urgent need for effective and sustained interventions.