India, Nov. 28 -- New Delhi

A day after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR lifted Stage-3 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), Delhi's air quality worsened on Thursday, hitting the upper-end of the "very poor" categorisation. The 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) at 4pm on Thursday was 377, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB's) daily bulletin. By 8pm, it was 381 (very poor) and rising, with multiple stations in deep red and the "severe" range.

The decision to scale back Grap was taken amid forecasts indicating that air quality would remain "very poor" through the coming days and just a week after the Supreme Court encouraged the commission to take "proactive action" in ...