NEW DELHI: Air pollution in the national capital worsened sharply on Thursday morning, with Delhi’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) climbing to 482 on November 5, 2026. The reading placed the city in the ‘severe’ pollution category, according to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
At least seven air quality monitoring stations across the city recorded AQI levels above 400, indicating widespread pollution.
Punjabi Bagh recorded the highest AQI at 446, followed by Narela at 434 and Rohini at 431. Other locations reporting severe pollution included RK Puram (416), Bawana (412), Delhi University’s North Campus (408) and Patparganj (405).
Several other areas also reported extremely poor air quality. Okhla Phase 2 and India Gate recorded an AQI of 399 each, while ITO registered 397 and Dwarka Sector 8 recorded 396. Chandni Chowk and Vasundhara Enclave reported readings of 356 and 330, respectively.
Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 293, while the India Meteorological Department’s monitoring station at Lodhi Road reported 268. Both readings fell in the ‘poor’ category.
With Diwali approaching, pollution levels are expected to remain a major concern. Forecasts from the Air Quality Early Warning System indicated that Delhi’s air quality could return to the severe category on November 6 and 7, with similar conditions likely to persist over the following six days.
On Wednesday, Delhi’s average AQI stood at 377, its worst reading in 288 days. The previous comparable high was 378, recorded on January 20. As many as 22 monitoring stations had reported severe air quality on Wednesday.
Experts attribute the deterioration to a combination of local emissions, farm fires in neighbouring states and unfavourable meteorological conditions that prevent pollutants from dispersing.
According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s (IITM) Decision Support System, stubble burning accounted for 16.28% of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution on Wednesday, while vehicular emissions contributed 18.17%.
Satellite data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) detected 467 farm fire incidents across six states on November 4. Madhya Pradesh reported 157 incidents, Punjab 151, Rajasthan 111, Uttar Pradesh 33, Haryana 10 and Uttarakhand five. No farm fires were detected in Delhi.
Between September 15 and November 4, a total of 4,800 crop-residue burning incidents were recorded across seven states and Union Territories, including Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has intensified action against stubble burning in Punjab. It issued show-cause notices to the deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police of Jalandhar, Faridkot, Bathinda, Barnala and Fazilka over their alleged failure to prevent farm fires. Similar notices had been issued to officials in four other districts earlier this week.
