Delhi AQI Still ‘Very Poor’ Even As Temperature Drops; Ghaziabad Remains Most Polluted

Last Updated:November 18, 2025, 08:14 IST

The improvement comes amid stronger surface winds, which picked up to around 15 km/hr on Sunday. Despite this, most areas in Delhi-NCR continued to breathe toxic air.

The Supreme Court refused to impose sweeping restrictions such as an all-year construction ban or limits on vehicular movement across Delhi-NCR. (File image: ANI)

Delhi’s air quality remained firmly in the ‘very poor’ bracket for the fifth straight day on Tuesday, with the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) touching 341 at 6 am. Though marginally better than Monday’s reading of 359 and Sunday’s 377, pollution levels continue to pose serious health risks across the Capital and neighbouring regions.

The improvement comes amid stronger surface winds, which picked up to around 15 km/hr on Sunday. Despite this, most areas in Delhi-NCR continued to experience toxic air.

The city is also experiencing an early winter chill. Delhi logged a minimum temperature of 8.7°C on Monday, four degrees below normal, making it the lowest November temperature since 2022, when the mercury hit 8.3°C on November 30. The maximum temperature settled at 27.1°C.

Delhi AQI Today

Several neighbourhoods recorded alarming pollution levels early on Tuesday. As per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app, Wazirpur reported an AQI of 410, Bawana 419, and Jahangirpuri 414 — all in the ‘severe’ category.

The Early Warning System under the Ministry of Earth Sciences forecast no immediate respite, predicting Delhi’s air quality would remain in the ‘very poor’ range and could slip back into ‘severe’ by Wednesday.

Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) have been in place since November 11, when Delhi’s AQI hit 428.

Ghaziabad Tops National Pollution Chart

Ghaziabad on Monday registered the worst air quality in the country and was the only city to fall into the “severe" category in the CPCB’s daily bulletin. Its AQI stood at 401, with PM2.5 identified as the dominant pollutant.

Area-wise readings showed Indirapuram at 365, Loni at 414, and Sanjay Nagar at 433. Data from Vasundhara was unavailable due to a technical glitch.

This marks Ghaziabad’s first “severe" air day of 2025. The last time pollution levels crossed the threshold was on December 17, 2024, when the AQI stood at 403.

Supreme Court Declines Harsh Curbs

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to impose sweeping restrictions, such as an all-year construction ban or limits on vehicular movement, across the Delhi-NCR region.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai said the city “cannot be brought to a standstill" in the name of combating air pollution.

“We cannot bring everything to a standstill… There cannot be a complete stoppage of all activities," the CJI remarked, responding to senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan’s plea that Delhi had turned into a “gas chamber" and required “drastic steps."

Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, who were also on the bench, noted that any solution must account for the livelihoods of thousands of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. “The solution proposed cannot be worse than the problem," the bench observed.

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