‘Severe plus’ AQI in Delhi: 40 stations go ‘red’; residents struggle to breathe

Delhi’s air quality plunged into the ‘severe’ category with AQI reaching 497, prompting the Commission for Air Quality Management to invoke GRAP Stage IV pollution-control curbs. Residents reported breathing difficulties, while environmentalists criticized GRAP as a reactive, temporary solution to long-term policy failures. Schools are now conducting hybrid classes, and offices are operating at 50% physical strength.