Delhi woke up to grey skies and biting cold on Sunday as air pollution levels remained alarmingly high, hovering close to the ‘severe’ category across several parts of the national capital.
A thick layer
of smog reduced visibility in the morning hours, adding to the discomfort of commuters and residents alike.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi’s Air Quality Index stood at 393 at 6 am this morning, a marginal improvement from 398 a day earlier but still firmly in the “very poor” range and threatening to tip into severe levels.
Several air quality monitoring stations reported far worse readings, with Chandni Chowk emerging as one of the most polluted pockets at an AQI of 455. It was followed by Wazirpur (449), Bawana (446), Rohini (444) and Anand Vihar (438).
Air quality across adjoining cities remained grim. Gurugram reported an AQI of 354, Noida 352 and Ghaziabad 334, all in the very poor category. Faridabad fared slightly better but still logged a “poor” AQI of 283.
An AQI between 0 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’.
The surge in pollution came alongside the capital’s first cold wave of the season. Delhi recorded its coldest December day so far on Saturday, with the maximum temperature dropping to 16.9 degrees Celsius—five degrees below normal.
Thick cloud cover and a persistent grey haze kept the sun largely obscured throughout the day.
Weather disruptions spilled into air travel as well. On Saturday, at least 129 flights were cancelled at Delhi’s airport due to dense fog, news agency PTI reported, citing an official.
Flight operations were running smoothly today, Delhi Airport said in an update on X.
Passenger Advisory issued at 06:00 hours.#DelhiAirport #PassengerAdvisory #DELAdvisory pic.twitter.com/GrSsrVoNIH
— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) December 21, 2025
According to the India Meteorological Department, dense to very dense fog is predicted during overnight and early morning hours on Sunday and issued an orange alert for the capital.
Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 23 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The weather department also warned of reduced visibility across neighbouring states, including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana till Sunday morning, with isolated fog pockets expected in Punjab and Haryana between December 25 and 27, and in west Uttar Pradesh on December 26 and 27.
Stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan has been in effect since December 13, imposing a blanket ban on construction and demolition activities, curbs on open burning, restrictions on the entry of non-BS VI vehicles into the city, denial of fuel to vehicles without valid pollution certificates, and a work-from-home mandate for 50 per cent of employees in both government and private offices.
