Air air pollution ranges in Delhi edged near the “extreme” class on Sunday as dense smog, biting chilly and thick blankets of fog swept throughout massive components of northern India.
Delhi’s air high quality index (AQI) rose sharply by means of the day, touching 410 at 11 pm, breaching the “extreme” threshold within the night time. By 6:30 am on Sunday, the AQI confirmed marginal enchancment however remained near-severe at 396, in accordance with the ministry of earth sciences’ Air High quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
The system’s forecast warned of persistently hazardous circumstances, stating: “The air high quality is more likely to be within the Extreme class from 20.12.2025 to 22.12.2025. The air high quality is probably going be within the Very Poor class on 23.12.2025.”
In line with the bulletin, the outlook for the subsequent six days stays worrying, with air high quality “more likely to be within the Very Poor to Extreme class.”
A number of Delhi areas report hazardous air
Information from the Central Air pollution Management Board’s Sameer app confirmed a number of monitoring stations throughout the capital reporting extraordinarily poor air high quality within the early morning hours.
Among the many worst-hit had been Chandni Chowk (455), Wazirpur (449), Rohini (444), Jahangirpuri (444), Anand Vihar (438) and Mundka (436), as of 6:05 am, inserting them firmly within the “extreme” vary.
Smog engulfs capital metropolis
The India Meteorological Division (IMD) warned of dense fog because the temperatures plunged alongside the air pollution spike.
For Sunday, the climate company issued orange alerts — the second-highest warning stage — throughout massive components of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, forecasting dense to very dense fog circumstances and urging authorities and residents to brace for extreme disruptions.
As reported by PR earlier, a satellite tv for pc picture captured at 9 am highlighted the huge scale of the smog and fog episode — a steady band stretching from the Kashmir valley by means of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, extending into components of Madhya Pradesh.
The nationwide capital recorded a most temperature of round 17 levels Celsius and a minimal of 8 levels Celsius, reflecting chilly day circumstances amid persistent smog and fog throughout the town.
Flight ops disrupted at Delhi airport
Visibility on the Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport remained poor attributable to dense fog. At 2:30 am IST, normal visibility was recorded at simply 600 metres, affecting flight operations throughout the late-night and early-morning hours.
India’s largest service, IndiGo, issued a journey advisory, cautioning passengers about doable disruptions attributable to early-morning fog anticipated throughout Delhi and several other components of northern India on Sunday.
“Early-morning fog is predicted to have an effect on visibility throughout Delhi and components of northern India. Throughout these hours, visibility can abruptly cut back, impacting flight operations.” the advisory stated, including that security stays the airline’s prime precedence.
At Delhi airport, flight operations had been disrupted for the fifth straight day attributable to low visibility, with 66 arriving and 63 departing flights cancelled, as of Saturday.
Information from Flightradar24 confirmed widespread delays by means of the day, with 220 arrivals and greater than 400 departures working delayed by Saturday night. The typical delay exceeded half-hour.
