New Delhi, Dec. 18 -- The national capital was cloaked in a thick layer of haze on Thursday as air pollution levels took a sharp turn for the worse. According to official data, the city's 24-hour average Air quality Index (AQI) climbed to 373, up from 334 a day earlier.

The surge has firmly pushed Delhi back into the 'very poor' air quality category, even as the Delhi government has imposed a range of anti-pollution measures to curb rising pollution levels.

The scale of the situation is evident across the city's monitoring network, where nearly half the stations are reporting critical levels.

Out of 40 air quality monitoring stations in the city, 15 have recorded 'severe' air quality, indicating dangerous levels of pollutants. Anand Vi...