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.

Offline classes are likely to resume on November 25, while the schedule for examinations and interviews remains unchanged. The development comes as the authorities had ordered the closure of schools till November 23.

Unhealthy

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.

With the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reading 422 at 6 AM on Saturday, Delhi was once again engulfed in a dense layer of poisonous haze as the air quality fell into the "Severe" category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),

Experts attribute the deteriorating conditions to a mix of vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, and unfavourable weather patterns

The Central Pollution Control Board data shows of the 38 monitoring stations in Delhi, nine reported AQI readings in the “severe” range.