The city woke up to another day of thick smog on Thursday as the air quality remained in the 'severe' category for the third consecutive day.
The morning air quality bulletin issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed an AQI reading of 404.
Out of 37 monitoring stations, 27 reported AQI levels in the 'severe' range. These included Burari (433), Chandni Chowk (455), Anand Vihar (431), Mundka (438), Pusa (302), Bawana (460), and Wazirpur (452).
The 'severe' category indicates a level of pollution that can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.
The advisory on Wednesday stated that children particularly under 5 years, elderly, pregnant women, patients with asthma or heart diseases, those from low socio-economic conditions having poor nutritional status and belonging to outdoor working groups are at the highest risk.
The ministry also advised healthcare facilities to ensure adequate medicines, oxygen cylinders, nebulizers, ventilators, and hospital beds, sketchers, Wheelchairs, and ambulances and have proper referral mechanisms in place.
The directorate of education directed all schools in the Delhi-NCR region to conduct classes in a hybrid mode for students up to Class 5.
It suggested schools to limit outdoor activities during days of higher pollution levels, staying indoors during break sessions and minimizing outdoor exposure and avoiding physical activities like running, jogging, playing,school activities, functions, celebrations and even birthday celebrations.
School health authorities, head, teachers and parents have been asked to develop mechanisms to create awareness and motivate in adopting better practices among students to mitigate and adapt to air pollution.
The Commission also advised Delhi and NCR govts to stagger office timings for public and municipal employees to cut down vehicular congestion in peak hours.
Most construction activities are banned, which is likely to hit thousands of daily-wage labourers across NCR.
For Thursday, stubble-burning is projected to contribute around 10.1 per cent to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels, while transport-related emissions are expected to increase slightly to 19.3 per cent, according to DSS projections.
Satellite-based data showed 312 farm fire incidents in Punjab, 72 in Haryana, and 322 in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
Taking note of stubble burning leading to further worsening of air quality levels in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to apprise it about the action taken to control the situation.
A bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria also agreed to hear the plea on November 17.
"Let Punjab and Haryana governments respond on steps taken to control stubble burning," the CJI said.
The city reported its first 'severe' air quality day of the season on Tuesday, when the AQI was recorded at 428, the first such instance since December 2024.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor' and 401 to 500 'severe', as per the CPCB classification.
The minimum temperature settled at 10.6 degrees Celsius, 2.9 notches below the season's average with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 27 degrees Celsius.