Day after Grap-3 curbs eased, Capital’s AQI worsens, again

A day after the authorities eased the stage-3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the National Capital Region, Delhi’s air quality worsened again. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index was 377 on Thursday and later rose to 381, placing the city in the “very poor” category and moving towards the “severe” range.

Experts said the pollution increased because wind speeds fell, which stopped pollutants from dispersing. They also questioned the decision to relax restrictions when air quality was still unstable and likely to deteriorate further.

Officials expect a slight improvement from Friday, but weather conditions during winter are likely to make pollution levels rise again. This marks the 22nd day this season that Delhi has recorded an AQI above 300.

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