New Year, same air: Delhi starts 2026 with ‘very poor’ AQI at 372; Anand Vihar worst hit

NEW DELHI: Delhi woke up under a thick blanket of fog on Thursday, with visibility plunging across large parts of the city and the National Capital Region (NCR) as air quality stayed in the ‘very poor’ category. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 372 at 7am, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). A station-wise analysis showed that 29 monitoring stations recorded ‘very poor’ air quality, while 7 slipped into the ‘severe’ bracket. Anand Vihar emerged as the worst-hit location, logging an AQI of 421, CPCB data from the SAMEER app showed.Under CPCB norms, an AQI of 0–50 is classified as ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’, and 401–500 ‘severe’.The Air Quality Early Warning System has warned that air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category over the next 6 days.Officials attributed the sustained pollution levels to unfavourable meteorological conditions, including a low ventilation index of below 6,000 square metres per second and weak wind speeds of under 10 kmph, which hinder the dispersion of pollutants.On Tuesday, the city recorded an AQI of 388, a marginal improvement over Monday’s ‘severe’ reading of 401.Weather conditions remained cold as well. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature at Safdarjung and Ayanagar was recorded at 6.4 degrees Celsius, about 0.4 degrees below the seasonal average. The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 23 degrees Celsius, with dense fog likely to persist through the day.Other stations reported similar chill, with Palam recording a minimum of 7.7 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road 6.8 degrees, and the Ridge 7.8 degrees. For New Year’s Day, the IMD has forecast a generally cloudy sky with the possibility of light rain over the national capital.Meanwhile, a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has found that Delhi remained the most polluted city in the NCR in 2025, followed by Ghaziabad and Noida. While the annual average PM2.5 concentration in Delhi showed a decline compared with last year, the polluted-season average between October and December rose slightly over 2024 levels.The study noted that PM2.5 levels at all 40 monitoring stations in Delhi were at least 1.8 times — nearly double — the prescribed annual standard. Of the 29 cities in the NCR, only 14 had PM2.5 data coverage exceeding 75% in 2025. The remaining 15 cities, all located in Haryana — including Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat, Panipat and Karnal — had inadequate monitoring coverage, underscoring persistent gaps in air quality surveillance across the region.