Delhi`s air quality slipped back to the `severe` category on Saturday morning with an AQI of 420 while the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.4 degrees Celsius. Out of 38 monitoring stations, nine recorded air quality in the `severe plus` category with AQI exceeding 450.

Delhi's air quality plummeted to 'severe' on Saturday, with an AQI of 412, posing significant health risks. Twenty monitoring stations recorded 'severe' readings, primarily due to vehicular emissions and stubble burning.

Whatever the causes of the smog, by one ranking Delhi was not just the most polluted city in the world, but “nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka,” in Bangladesh next door, as Shashi Tharoor, a leader of the opposition in Parliament and best-selling author, posted on X.

Unhealthy

Authorities in India’s capital have shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season.

India said on Sunday that it would tighten restrictions including on construction activities and vehicle movements in New Delhi and surrounding areas from Monday to combat worsening air quality. The new measures,

Residents of the national capital breathed in despair on Saturday, with the air quality plunging back to the 'severe' category as average Air Quality Index (AQI) pegged at 412.

Toxic smog engulfed much of northern India on Monday and pollution readings in New Delhi hit their highest of this pre-winter season, after dense fog overnight.

The AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded as 457; the AQI in Ashok Vihar was 455; Chandni Chowk's AQI was 439 and RK Puram recorded an AQI of 421.