Delhi records AQI 341, pollution levels continue to alarm

Delhi continues to witness extremely poor air quality on Wednesday morning, raising concerns over health issues.

AQI improves marginally but remains in ‘very poor’ category

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded 341, categorised as 'very poor ' at about 7 am. Though this was a bit better compared to yesterday, during which the AQI was 397.

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Nevertheless, experts still warn that the quality of the air is still a danger to health in the case of children, old people, and asthma or respiratory problems sufferers.

Long-term exposure to polluted air poses serious health risks

Breathing contaminated air for long can lead to difficulties in breathing, irritation in the eyes, and tiredness and can also aggravate the conditions of the already sick.

Pollution has been widespread as the national capital has shown several areas reporting extremely high AQI levels.

Both Anand Vihar and Ashok Vihar got AQI levels of 388, while Wazirpur was at 386. The other pollution spots included Punjabi Bagh (374), RK Puram (377), Bawana (383), ITO (369), Chandni Chowk (369), and Dwarka Sector 8 (376). All these areas were classified as very poor, implying that all those living in Delhi are inhaling unsafe air.

What AQI levels mean for public health

According to the official AQI metrics, a score between 0 and 50 indicates good air quality, 51–100 acceptable, 101–200 breathing discomfort, 201–300 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 301–400 very unhealthy, and 401–500 total crisis.

On top of that, the Indian meteorological department (IMD) has disclosed that there was moderate fog in various areas of Delhi, with dense fog at a few places, ANI reported.

Fog makes it difficult for the pollutants to disperse by trapping them near the ground. At 7 am, the temperature was about 9 degrees Celsius, still, this cold spell caused the air to be unfit to breathe and worsened the situation.

Stage IV GRAP measures imposed, later revoked

Earlier, the Air Quality Management Commission (CAQM) had intervened, and the worst pollution situation led to the imposition of Stage IV restrictions as per the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in all of Delhi and the NCR.

But on January 17, 2026, the CAQM was forced to revoke its Stage IV orders as the AQI fell back below the severe level. Stage IV restrictions are implemented only when the AQI readings exceed 450, which is the limit marked as severe.

Authorities remain on alert despite slight improvement

The aim of such actions is to stop the pollution levels from dropping again in the first place. Moreover, the authorities have declared that they will be monitoring the situation all the time in order to safeguard public health and keep the air quality index from falling into the extremely poor category.

To sum up, even though there is a tiny bit of improvement, still, the air quality in Delhi is a very serious issue, and the population is recommended to take steps to protect their health.

With inputs from agency.