Delhi woke up to another choking morning on Thursday as a thick grey smog continued to smother the capital&rsquo;s skyline, marking the third consecutive day of &lsquo;severe&rsquo; air quality. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city&rsquo;s average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 405 at 10 a.m., only marginally better than Wednesday&rsquo;s 418 reading.
Out of Delhi&rsquo;s 39 active monitoring stations, 25 recorded &lsquo;severe&rsquo; air quality levels, with Bawana (460), Wazirpur (454), and Rohini (447) emerging as the city&rsquo;s most polluted pockets. The toxic blanket showed no signs of dispersing, with visibility remaining poor and the city&rsquo;s familiar winter haze thickening by the hour.
&ldquo;In the early hours, winds have mostly been calm. The wind direction was northwesterly till Wednesday but later shifted to westerly and southwesterly,&rdquo; said&nbsp;Mahesh Palawat, Vice President at Skymet Weather. &ldquo;Forecasts indicate marginal improvement from Thursday onwards.&rdquo;
Meteorologists attributed the worsening smog to a combination of sluggish wind speeds, barely reaching 10 km/h and falling temperatures, which have triggered a weather inversion, trapping pollutants close to the surface. The conditions have effectively turned Delhi&rsquo;s morning air into a toxic haze.
<h3 data-start="1487" data-end="1526">Stage-3 Restrictions in Force</h3>
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has enforced Stage-3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the National Capital Region (NCR). All non-essential construction work and the operation of BS-3 petrol and BS-4 diesel four-wheelers have been temporarily banned in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddh Nagar.
In a parallel move, the Delhi government has instructed all primary schools (up to class five) to switch to hybrid learning mode until further notice. Officials said that restrictions could be eased once AQI levels fall below 400, the threshold for the &lsquo;severe&rsquo; category.
Despite the grim air, experts remain cautiously optimistic about slight relief later this week, as shifting wind patterns and potential drizzle could bring some dispersal of trapped pollutants. But for now, Delhi continues to live under a toxic sky, its air as still as its patience.

Delhi Breathes Toxic Air for Third Day Straight

AQI stays in ‘severe’ range; smog blankets city as slow winds trap pollutants

Delhi Breathes Toxic Air for Third Day Straight

AQI stays in ‘severe’ range; smog blankets city as slow winds trap pollutants

November 13, 2025 | 20:30 IST