Delhi’s air quality remains ‘very poor’; min temp marginally up

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) on Wednesday

Updated on: Nov 27, 2025, 09:33:40 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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Delhi’s air quality remained “very poor” on Thursday, a day after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), even as the minimum temperature of 8.3°C was marginally up from a season’s lowest of 8°C a day earlier.

The minimum temperature of 8.3°C was marginally up from a season’s lowest of 8°C a day earlier. (PTI)

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 9°C, compared to 9.3°C on Monday. It plunged to the lowest for November since 2022 on Wednesday. An average air quality index (AQI) of 355 was recorded at 9am. It was 327 at 4pm on Wednesday.

Stage 3 Grap restrictions were revoked despite forecasts indicating air quality will remain “very poor”. A week earlier, the Supreme Court asked CAQM to take “proactive action” and make pollution control measures more stringent.

The AQI on Wednesday was marginally better than Tuesday’s 353 and Monday’s 382. It marked the 21st straight day of AQI above 300. The longest such streak since 2019 was last year, with 32 straight days of 300+ AQI between October 30 and November 30. This included a peak of 494 (severe) AQI on November 18. The second-longest streak of such days since 2019 is 23, which was logged between December 17, 2018, and January 8, 2019.

The revocation of Stage 3 curbs allowed private construction and demolition, mining, and other allied activities to resume in NCR. A restriction on older BS-3 petrol and BS-4 vehicles from plying in the region was also lifted, among other vehicular restrictions. Other measures lifted included primary classes having to run on hybrid mode and both government and private offices operating with a 50% workforce.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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