As a poisonous haze continued to linger over the area for the seventh day in a row, pollution levels in Delhi-NCR on Monday morning were estimated to be seven to eight times higher than the government-mandated safe limit.
Due to unfavorable wind patterns and a rapid increase in field fires around north India, Delhi's air quality hit the "severe plus" category for the second time in three days on Sunday. As a result, strict restrictions, including a ban on the entry of polluting trucks, went into place
Stage IV of the Center's air pollution control strategy, known as the Graded Response Action strategy (GRAP), required the Center to implement all emergency measures when the 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), which is recorded at 4 pm every day, deteriorated from 415 on Saturday to 454 on Sunday. The city's AQI was 440 on Monday at seven in the morning. A number of cities in the nearby states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana have also reported dangerously low air quality.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), an impending western disturbance—weather systems that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring unseasonal rainfall to northwest India—is expected to have an impact on the development of favorable conditions for the dispersion of pollutants starting Tuesday night
Unfavorable weather patterns, vehicle emissions, burning paddy straw, firecrackers, and other regional sources of pollution all play a part in the dangerously high levels of air pollution that Delhi-NCR experiences every winter. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) reports that as the number of stubble burning occurrences in Punjab and Haryana rises, the capital faces peak pollution from November 1 to November 15.The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), located in New Delhi, reports that 4,160 farm fires were reported from north India on Sunday, making it the most so far this season.
