Northern India encountered the recurring annual pre-winter event of air emergency where the Air Quality Index (AQI) readings of main pollutant PM 2.5 breached the 400-mark of “very poor” and landed the air of Delhi, Punjab and other northern cities into the “hazardous” category.

Delhi residents woke up to ‘severe’ air quality on Thursday morning (November 14), a day after the national capital recorded the worst AQI in the country, with dense fog blanketing the NCR, reducing visibility.

Toxic smog in India and Pakistan has caused air quality in the major metropolitans of Lahore, Multan, Delhi and Chandigarh to deteriorate to toxic levels.

Pakistan’s cities slip under toxic smog as live readings for Lahore show PM2.5 levels 100 times over what WHO prescribes

Toxic smog blanketed northern India on Thursday, becoming too thick to see through in several places, as high levels of pollution combined with humidity, low wind speed, and a drop in temperature, officials said.