Delhi woke up to "hazardous" air on Monday, a day after Diwali, with AQI.in showing an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 776 at 6.51 a.m.
That made the capital the third most polluted city in the world. PM2.5 stood at 554 µg/m³ and PM10 at 708 µg/m³, under a smoky haze with winds of just 7.6 km/h.
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The Commission for Air Quality Management had already invoked Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan across Delhi-NCR on Friday.
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The smog was not confined to the capital. Lucknow recorded a “hazardous” AQI of 500 at 6.51 am, making it the 10th most polluted city in the world, according to AQI.in.
Kolkata (296), Chennai (254) and Hyderabad (207) were in the “unhealthy” range, while Mumbai and Bengaluru, both at 157, were in the “poor” category.
Delhi's air had been “very poor” for seven straight days before Diwali. On Diwali night, the city's AQI touched 371 at 10 pm, with 20 monitoring stations in the “severe” category despite curbs on firecrackers.
Delhi AQI Station-Wise Data
- Vivek Vihar – 445
- Jahangirpuri – 468
- Rohini – 514
- DTU – 430
- Bawana – 508
- Punjabi Bagh – 521
- Alipur – 395
- Narela – 488
- IIT Delhi – 363
Six of the nine stations recorded "hazardous" band (above 400).
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Delhi-NCR AQI
- Ghaziabad – 402
- Noida – 413
- Faridabad – 455
- Gurugram – 426
All four NCR cities remain in the "hazardous" band (above 400).
Kolkata: Unhealthy
- AQI was 296 at 6.31 am, making it the 96th most polluted city globally, per AQI.in.
- PM2.5 was 125 µg/m³ and PM10 163 µg/m³, under a smoky haze at 21°C.
Chennai: Unhealthy
- AQI was 254 at 6.31 am, ranking 111th globally.
- PM2.5 was 108 µg/m³ and PM10 143 µg/m³, with patchy rain nearby and humidity at 80%.
Hyderabad: Unhealthy
- AQI was 207 at 6.51 am, ranking 128th globally.
- PM2.5 was 93 µg/m³ and PM10 131 µg/m³ on a sunny morning at 19°C.
Mumbai: Poor
- AQI was 157 at 6.31 am, ranking 157th globally.
- PM2.5 was 74 µg/m³ and PM10 146 µg/m³, with clear skies at 28°C.
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Bengaluru: Poor
- AQI was also 157 at 6.51 am.
- PM2.5 was 78 µg/m³ and PM10 118 µg/m³ under overcast skies at 19°C.
Lucknow: Hazardous
- AQI was 500 at 6.51 am, the top of the scale, making Lucknow the 10th most polluted city globally, per AQI.in.
- PM2.5 was 380 µg/m³ and PM10 462 µg/m³, under a smoky haze at 20°C with winds of just 6.5 km/h.
AQI.in classes 101-200 as "poor", 201-300 as "unhealthy", 301-400 as "severe" and anything above 400 as "hazardous". Pollution typically peaks in the hours after Diwali, when cooler air and weak winds keep smoke close to the ground.
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