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Delhi Chokes Under Toxic Haze as Pollution Controls Fail to Activate
2 Nov
Summary
- Delhi's air quality index reaches 366, well above safe levels
- Supreme Court-mandated pollution control measures not triggered
- Experts call for proactive implementation of pollution curbs
As of November 3, 2025, Delhi is once again engulfed in a thick, toxic haze, with the air quality index (AQI) reaching a concerning level of 366 in the afternoon. This marks the second consecutive day of severely poor air quality in the capital.
Despite the Supreme Court's directive last year to lower the threshold for implementing stricter pollution control measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has yet to trigger these measures. The court had ordered the CAQM to implement Stage 3, or 'severe' category measures, once the AQI reaches 350 or more, and to invoke Stage 4, or 'severe-plus' category measures, at an AQI of 400 or more.
However, as of November 3, 2025, only Stage 2 of Grap is currently in place, which came into effect on October 19 when the AQI crossed the 300-mark. This has led to concerns among experts, who stress the importance of implementing pollution control measures in line with air quality forecasts to prevent high exposure to harmful pollutants.
The dominant pollutant on Sunday was PM2.5, which can have long-term impacts on lung function, particularly in children and adolescents. Air quality forecasts predict the situation to worsen further, with the AQI likely to reach the 'severe' category on Tuesday before improving slightly on Wednesday.
