At 373, Delhi on Thursday recorded its worst Air Quality Index (AQI) for October in three years. The last time a higher AQI was recorded for October was in 2022 when the AQI stood at 392 on the last day of the month.

The Capital woke up to a thick blanket of haze on Thursday. The city’s air quality plunged nearly 100 points from a day earlier, slipping deep into the “very poor” category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The average AQI on Wednesday stood at 279, in the ‘poor’ category.

The dip was driven by calm surface winds, high humidity and a drop in night temperature, which led to a temperature inversion — a condition where a layer of warm air traps cooler air near the surface, preventing pollutants from dispersing.

Thursday’s maximum temperature was 27 degr

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