Delhi air quality slightly improved on Saturday as the city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 359, firmly in the ‘very poor’ category. Except for IHBAS in Dilshad Garden, 38 out of 39 monitoring centres recorded AQI levels above 300, while 12 stations crossed the ‘severe’ mark of 400.

Major pollution hotspots—Anand Vihar (422), Narela (401), Ashok Vihar (403), Bawana (419), Jahangirpuri (417), Rohini (414), Vivek Vihar (423) and Nehru Nagar (402)—reported extremely toxic air, placing them in the ‘severe’ range.

Government of India data shows that between September and November 20, Punjab reported around 5,000 farm fire cases, Uttar Pradesh 4,600, and Haryana 592. In contrast, during the wheat-harvesting season in summer, Punjab logged 47,000 cases, Uttar Pradesh 45,000, and Hary

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