City latest News Today Live Updates: Delhi air quality remains 'very poor'; poses significant health risks

Delhi's air quality sharply worsened on Sunday as calm winds and low mercury impacted the dispersion of pollutants. Within 24 hours, the Air Quality Index (AQI) rose from 316 on Saturday to 382, placing it in the higher end of the ‘very poor' category. This was the worst AQI in nearly 10 months. A higher AQI than this was last recorded at 392 on Jan 31, shows Central Pollution Control Board data. The highest AQI in Oct was 364 in the ‘very poor' category on Oct 23. The air quality is likely to hover within the ‘very poor' category till Wednesday. IMD has predicted that mist or smog conditions during the early hours of Monday to Wednesday.

At least seven people have died and many others have been injured after a bus plunged into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, district magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey said. The bus was traveling from Garhwal to Kumaon when the accident occurred in Marchula.

• At around 7.00am on Monday, New Moti Bagh recorded an AQI of 400, RK Puram at 393, Dwarka Sector 8 at 393, and ITO at 349. All these areas reported 'very poor' air quality levels, posing significant health risks.
• The AQI at Vivek Vihar was recorded 421, and 409 in Ashok Vihar taking the air quality level to "severe category"
• An AQI is considered as "poor" between '200 and 300', "very poor" at '301 and 400', "severe" at '401-450" and 450 and above, is "severe plus.".

Delhi's air quality remained in the 'very poor' category as the city woke up to thick smog on Monday. The air quality index (AQI) reached 320 in the early hours, inching closer to the 'severe' category. Anand Vihar recorded the highest AQI at 433, followed closely by Wazirpur at 414, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A day after winds helped clean up the city's air, Noida's AQI dropped to the ‘very poor' category again on Sunday. The AQI stood at 313 on Sunday afternoon, a notable decline from 264 (poor) the day before. Greater Noida saw a marginal drop in air quality as well, recording an AQI of 247 against Saturday's 232 – both in the ‘poor' category. However, neighbouring Ghaziabad managed to avoid this trend, with air quality improving from 324 (very poor) the day before to 293 (poor) on Sunday.

As temperatures fell and winds slowed down on Sunday, the city's air quality index (AQI) rose marginally to 281 from 209 a day ago . While the AQI marked a 27.27% increase from Saturday, it remained in the ‘poor' category. According to CPCB's 24-hour data, the air monitoring station in Gwal Pahari near the Aravalis recorded the day's worst AQI at 356 (very poor), whilst it was 'poor' at Vikas Sadan (272) and Teri Gram (240). Sector-51 witnessed 'moderate' air at 198. On Sunday, the city's minimum temperature was 15.9 degrees Celsius, down from 17.4 degrees the day before.

At least 13 people who sustained eye injuries due to the bursting of firecrackers have undergone surgeries in the city this Deepavali season. Minto Hospital reported four surgical interventions from 49 cases, Sankara Eye Hospital five from 18, and Narayana Nethralaya four from 73. Among the patients with firecracker injuries at Minto Hospital, 32 were children. Fourteen patients were admitted as inpatients from Oct 28 till Sunday noon.

The city recorded its lowest minimum temperature this season, at 15.9 degrees Celsius on Sunday, as mercury fell over a notch in 24 hours. But it was still 1.5 degrees Celsius above normal for this time of the year. Maximum temperature also fell to 32.1 degrees Celsius, almost two notches from the previous day. This too was 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than normal.