Delhi's air quality plummeted to 'very poor' Thursday morning, with Anand Vihar, Bawana, and other areas recording alarming AQI levels exceeding 300.

Hundreds of millions of Indians breathe some of the world’s most toxic air all year round. Air pollution in the capital area that’s home to about 30 million people is especially stubborn. In winter, the cold weather actually makes the smog even worse — and potent.

Whatever the causes of the smog, by one ranking Delhi was not just the most polluted city in the world, but “nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka,” in Bangladesh next door, as Shashi Tharoor, a leader of the opposition in Parliament and best-selling author, posted on X.

New Delhi's air quality has plummeted to alarming levels, with smog significantly reducing visibility and pushing the AQI above 450. Stubble burning, traffic, and industrial emissions are blamed.

Experts said even though winds were predominantly calm on Saturday, they picked up late in the evening, with similarly strong winds recorded on Sunday.