New Delhi: As Delhiites stepped out to celebrate Diwali on Sunday evening, the familiar festivities of lights and firecrackers came with a haze of pollution, with the city's instantaneous Air Quality Index (AQI) standing at 371 at 7 pm, in the 'very poor' category.
Several social media users reported smelling smog and firecracker smoke in the air as celebrations gathered pace across the capital, with the city's air quality remaining close to the 'severe' threshold.
Of the 59 monitoring stations that recorded data at 7 pm, 19 were in the 'severe' category, seven in the 'poor' and the remaining 33 in the 'very poor'. The worst AQI was recorded at Jahangirpuri at 460.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as 'good', 51 and 100 as 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 as 'moderate', 201 and 300 as 'poor', 301 and 400 as 'very poor', and 401 and 500 as 'severe'.
Jahangirpuri recorded the highest AQI at 450, followed by Punjabi Bagh at 449, RK Puram at 448, Bawana at 446 and IIT Delhi at 445, according to CPCB data.
The city's AQI had shown marginal improvement from 382 on Friday to 369 on Saturday, but rose to 384 on Sunday morning, remaining close to the threshold of 401 for the 'severe' category.
According to the Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, air quality is likely to remain in the 'severe' category on November 8 and 9.
The outlook for the following six days indicates that pollution levels are expected to fluctuate between the 'severe' and 'very poor' categories.
#WATCH | Delhi | Air Quality Index (AQI) around AIIMS is 421, categorised as 'Severe', as per the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board). (Visuals shot at 07:19 am) https://t.co/GjUNOlIcsN
— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2026
According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.
