The air quality in the city of 20 million was “very poor” overall and turned “severe” in some areas, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board. The air quality index in the Anand Vihar area touched 457 – nine times the “good” level.
The government’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research attributed the poor wind to the drop in temperature and reduced wind speed.
Delhi’s minimum temperature has been hovering around 6 degrees Celsius (42.8 Fahrenheit) for the past few days, well below the normal minimum of 8 degrees Celsius for this time of the year.