Air quality levels in New Delhi plummeted to “hazardous” levels on Wednesday, with parts of the city recording pollutant levels more than 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limits, as authorities in India struggle to crack down on illegal farm stubble burning and polluting vehicles despite intervention from the country’s Supreme Court.
Commuters drive amid dense smog in New Delhi.
New Delhi’s Air Quality Index, which measures the presence of pollutants in the air, hovered between 450 to 500 on Wednesday—ranking in the “hazardous” category where even healthy individuals are likely to experience adverse effects.
According to a tracker run by IQAir, Delhi's air quality index crossed 1,500 shortly before dawn, as a dense layer of fog mixed with the polluted air settled over the city overnight.
Delhi ranked as the most polluted major city in the world on Wednesday, overtaking Lahore in neighboring Pakistan—which has also faced hazardous air quality levels in the past few weeks.
In some parts of the city, the levels of PM 2.5 pollutants—airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can enter the lungs and cause several diseases—were more than 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit of 15 micrograms per cubic meter.
While the city’s schools remained open, many have restricted outdoor activities for their students.
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- That is the total number of both arriving and departing flights, which have faced delays at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Wednesday, according to FlightAware data. The delays have been attributed to the thick smog reducing visibility at the airport.
Severe pollution is a recurring issue for the national capital every winter, which often results in a political blame game between municipal, state and national government authorities. Officials in Delhi have previously blamed the issue on the persistent burning of crop residues in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana after harvest season. Pollution from vehicles, construction sites, brick kilns and factories in and around Delhi are also key contributors to the poor air quality. Efforts to curb farm fires have not been fully effective, as farmers in Punjab and Haryana usually find it cheaper to burn the crop residue instead of accepting government financial incentives to remove them manually or using machines. Farmer unions are also a powerful voting bloc in the region, prompting authorities to avoid harsh crackdowns on the practice.
NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, which tracks large fires across the world using live satellite data, showed multiple blazes dotted across the state of Punjab on Wednesday. Local authorities recorded 418 farm fires in total across the state on Monday.
Air pollution was responsible for at least 1.6 million deaths across India in 2021, according to an estimate published by the medical journal Lancet in its 2024 Countdown on Health and Climate Change.
Air quality in Delhi plummeted to hazardous levels on Wednesday.
Dust from construction sites across the capital is considered a key contributor to pollution in ... [+]
AQI levels in New Delhi remained between 450 and 500 for most of Wednesday.
Office goers walk amidst a dense layer of smog as the air quality index indicates 'severe' category ... [+]
The thick smog caused flight delays and prompted schools to limit outdoor activities for students.
Delhi air pollution: Visibility near-zero amid thick smog; CPCB says AQI 'very poor' (Hindustan Times)