Delhi AQI today: City’s air stays ‘very poor’ three days after Diwali

Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday morning, three days after Diwali, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) touching 328, marginally down from Wednesday.

The AQI was at a season-high of 353 (very poor) at 4 pm on Wednesday, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.

The analysis by the Decision Support System (DSS), which tracks pollution sources, showed that the mix of emissions affecting Delhi had shifted since Diwali on October 20.

The DSS found that 36.06% of Delhi’s pollution came from the “others” category, a term used for unaccounted or out-of-inventory sources that fall outside the study area. Experts say this includes emissions from nearby power plants, industries, and rural burning in Punjab and Haryana that the system does not directly record.

According to DSS data, the transport sector was the second most significant contributor to Delhi’s pollution at 15.77%. While the energy sector contributed 1.61%, construction activities accounted for 2.18%, and waste burning 1.47% to the pollution. Industrial emissions from Delhi and surrounding NCR districts made up 3.49% of the city’s total pollution load.

Meanwhile, stubble burning added 1.62% to Delhi’s fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on Wednesday.

The share of stubble burning had risen to 2.62% on October 17, before dipping due to changes in wind direction and speed. According to the experts, cases of stubble burning are expected to rise again as north-westerly winds have started carrying emissions from Punjab and Haryana to Delhi.

The DSS also tracked how neighbouring regions contributed to Delhi’s pollution. Ghaziabad (5.28%), Jhajjar (5.11%), Gautam Buddha Nagar (4.01%), Gurugram (2.08%), Bulandshahr (1.68%), and Panipat (0.86%) together made up nearly 20% of the total pollution load.

Environmental analyst Sunil Dahiya, founder of the think-tank Envirocatalysts, said the “others” category reflects the limitations of a static pollution inventory. “The emission data is not updated dynamically. Anything outside the defined area is grouped as ‘others’. Without updating this inventory regularly, it becomes difficult to plan targeted action,” he was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.