Delhi air quality hits hazardous levels, ranks as most polluted city
Delhi's air quality index reached 334 on Friday according to IQAir, placing the city in the hazardous band and above Lahore as the world's most polluted major city. India's Central Pollution Control Board recorded a higher reading of 403, classed as severe. Twenty-eight of the city's 58 monitoring stations reported values above 400, with the IIT Delhi station logging a peak of 488. Neighbouring Noida recorded 474, and Delhi's average AQI during last week's Diwali period was 376. Delhi authorities plan cloud seeding to address the smog. The city has about 20 million residents.
Key facts
- Private monitors measured an average AQI of 594 at 7:30 am, labelled hazardous.
- Areas including Railway Colony, Rameshwar Nagar and Samaypur recorded AQI above 800.
- Dense smog obscured streetlights on Delhi's main roads, according to ANI video footage.
Summarised with AI from 5 sources · Updated 08:42Read our AI policy
Why it matters
Extreme pollution affects the health of roughly 20 million residents in and around Delhi.
What changed
Summary updated
First published from Scroll.in, Dawn, Anadolu Agency, Asharq Al-Awsat and Al Jazeera English