Delhi woke on Wednesday to another winter smog episode, with the capital’s air quality index at 377 in the morning — firmly in the “very poor” range — just days before Diwali, one of India’s biggest festivals.
The reading, based on data from India’s Central Pollution Control Board, was the city’s third consecutive day in the “very poor” band. Readings between 301 and 400 fall in that category, while anything above 400 is classed as “severe”. Several monitoring stations were already past that threshold in the morning, including Punjabi Bagh at 452 and Jahangirpuri at 450, according to station-level figures reported during the day.
The deterioration has renewed health warnings for a city of more than 30 million people. The index tracks fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, particles small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Health experts warn that prolonged exposure can cause breathing problems and worsen existing lung and heart conditions, with children and older people most at risk.
Authorities have responded by invoking Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan, the capital’s staged emergency system. That stage brings more intensive road cleaning, higher parking charges to discourage private car use, extra public transport and staggered government office hours. The Commission for Air Quality Management activated the stage on 2 November, when the 24-hour average first entered the “very poor” range.
The sharp rise follows an unusually clean October, when Delhi recorded its lowest average air quality index for the month in eight years. Rain and stronger winds had cleared the air, but once the weather settled, falling temperatures, slow winds and north-westerly winds carrying smoke from crop-stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana pushed pollution back up. Vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions added to the load, in a familiar winter combination that traps pollutants close to the ground.
Diwali, which falls on 8 November, threatens to make matters worse. The festival is celebrated with lights, lamps and fireworks, and fireworks release fine particles and harmful gases into air that is already laden with smoke. Last year Delhi woke to a toxic haze the morning after the festival, despite a court directive to use less-polluting firecrackers.
On Monday, India’s Supreme Court allowed the manufacture, sale and use of certified green firecrackers in Delhi and neighbouring areas for a limited period. Green firecrackers use modified chemical formulations designed to produce fewer emissions, and they must carry QR codes so buyers and officials can verify their certification. Under the court’s order they may be set off only between 06:00 and 07:00 and between 20:00 and 22:00 on 7 and 8 November, and fireworks are banned within 300 metres of hospitals, care homes, schools and other designated silence zones.
Even so, enforcement remains a persistent problem: the court acknowledged that conventional firecrackers have continued to be sold as green alternatives, even when a complete ban was in place, and it has directed police to patrol sales areas, carry out random QR-code checks and seize illegal stock.
Forecasters offered little immediate relief. The government’s Air Quality Early Warning System expected air quality to remain “very poor” until at least Friday, 6 November. If winds stay slow and fireworks add to the load, readings could climb further into the severe range; if enforcement succeeds and conditions ease, the city may avoid the worst of last year’s aftermath.
Sources: BBC News reporting on Delhi’s air quality deterioration ahead of Diwali (https://worldrightnowlive.com/story/delhi-air-quality-worsens-ahead-of-diwali-as-firework-restrictions-ent); AFP reporting on toxic air pollution surging in New Delhi, including monitoring-firm readings of PM2.5 above 461 micrograms per cubic metre in parts of the city (https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/world/er/30053491190); Central Pollution Control Board air quality data as reported on 4 November 2026. Note: the PM2.5 figure above 461 micrograms per cubic metre is a monitoring-firm reading for parts of the city, not a citywide average.
