Delhi woke up to choking smog on Saturday as the city’s air quality deteriorated sharply, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) plunging to 333 and almost all monitoring stations recording “very poor”
air, raising health concerns for residents across the national capital.
The India Meteorological Department informed that Friday was the coldest December morning so far this year with the mercury dipping to 5.6 degrees Celsius.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data at 7 am, Mundka reported the worst AQI at 381. Out of Delhi’s 39 monitoring stations, 35 registered readings in the very poor range, while the remaining four reported poor air quality.
Stations recording very poor air quality included RK Puram (364), Punjabi Bagh (348), Chandni Chowk (348), Rohini (374), Vivek Vihar (309), Bawana (375), Siri Fort (343), Wazirpur (359), Anand Vihar (366), Ashok Vihar (348), and Sonia Vihar (352).
AQI around India Gate and Kartavya Path was also recorded 311, categorised as ‘Very Poor’. Ghazipur Mandi area recorded an AQI of 366, categorised as ‘Very Poor’.
#WATCH | Delhi | Visuals around Ghazipur Mandi area this morning as a layer of toxic smog blankets the city.
AQI (Air Quality Index) around the area is 366, categorised as ‘Very Poor’, as claimed by CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board). pic.twitter.com/3lvBqtyEmO
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025
#WATCH | Delhi | Visuals around India Gate and Kartavya Path this morning as a layer of toxic smog blankets the city.
AQI (Air Quality Index) around the area is 311, categorised as ‘Very Poor’, as claimed by CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board). pic.twitter.com/BxC5GL8JLn
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025
Locations reporting poor air quality included NSIT Dwarka (260), Mandir Marg (256), IGI Airport (263) and Aya Nagar (289).
Delhi’s air quality saw sharp swings through the week, starting at an AQI of 279 on Sunday before deteriorating to 304 on Monday. Pollution levels surged to 372 on Tuesday, close to the ‘severe’ mark, then eased marginally to 342 on Wednesday. The AQI stayed in the ‘very poor’ category at 304 on Thursday and rose again to 327 on Friday.
According to Delhi’s Decision Support System (DSS) for air quality management, vehicular emissions continued to be the biggest local source of pollution at 15.3 per cent. This was followed by industrial emissions from Delhi and adjoining areas at 7.6 per cent, residential sources at 3.7 per cent, construction dust at 2.1 per cent, and waste burning at 1.3 per cent.
Among neighbouring NCR districts, Jhajjar accounted for 14.3 per cent of pollutants, Rohtak 5 per cent, Sonipat 3.8 per cent, Bhiwani 2.5 per cent and Gurugram 1.5 per cent, the DSS analysis noted.
According to the CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.
