Delhi – It seems like winter is crippling Delhi with each passing year. The Air Quality Index (AQI) crossed 400 today, making Delhi’s air fall in the ‘severe’ category. 12 stations recorded ‘very poor’ air quality with readings above 300, as on 10:05 am on Sunday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) Sameer app. For Delhi residents, air pollution may be a regular phenomenon, but it concerns climate experts about worsening air quality in the coming years.

This toxic mist has rendered Delhi a ‘red zone’. It has become the most polluted city in the nation. The National Capital Region (NCR) and Delhi saw the exacerbating air quality since Diwali. The quality dropped to ‘poor’ and ‘very poor.’ Till now, some of the worst air quality recorded in the cities of Delhi are as follows – Banwana with 438, Jahangirpuri with 436, Rohini with 435, Wazipur with 430, Mundka and Burari Crossing with 428, Nehru Nagar with 425, Patparganj with 424, and so on. The only city in Delhi to report the best air quality by far is Dwarka, with 198, which is ‘moderate.’

Delhi’s average air quality remains at 392, as of 6 am, according to CPCB. Experts have advised offices and institutions to shift to work-from-home schedules for employees. The Delhi government changed the office timings from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm to 10 am to 6:30 pm. The MCD offices, on the other hand, will operate from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm instead of the earlier 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.