Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday morning, with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 370 at 8 am. Several parts of the capital recorded ‘severe’ pollution levels, with Jahangirpuri reporting the highest AQI of 459, according to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM).Delhi’s air quality was in the ‘very poor’ category (350) at 4 pm on Tuesday and it rose to 379 at 6 am on Wednesday.Station-wise readings showed that at least 10 monitoring stations recorded AQI levels above 400, placing them in the ‘severe’ category. Alipur recorded an AQI of 433, Bawana 413, Jahangirpuri 459, Mundka 423, Narela 434, Okhla Phase 2 401, Patparganj 407, Punjabi Bagh 448, RK Puram 418, Rohini 432, Sirifort 404 and Sonia Vihar 423. All these areas fell in the ‘severe’ category.And other locations recorded ‘very poor’ air quality. The areas are Ashok Vihar 345, Dilshad Garden 310, Dwarka Sector 8- 395, ITO 399, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium 393, Mandir Marg 396, NSIT Dwarka 303, Najafgarh 375, Nehru Nagar 338, Pusa 380, Shadipur 301, Sri Aurobindo Marg 309 and Wazirpur 370.Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 296, placing it in the ‘poor’ category.Meanwhile, a private AQI monitoring website reported Delhi’s air quality at 552 at 8 am. The difference in the AQI figures by EWS and AQI.in is due to the different parameters considered to measure the air quality..Source: PTI; IITM and Air Quality Early Warning System; CPCB AQI bands. Readings as of 8 am, Thursday, Nov 5, 2026. Figures are provisional and change through the day..How is it going to be after Diwali?Delhi is likely yo witness a rise in pollution levels after Diwali as weakening winds are expected to trap pollutants over the national capital. Changing wind patterns may help disperse some of the smog on the festival day, as per the PTI reports.Story continues below this adIn a post on X, meteorologist Navdeep Dahiya said wind speeds could increase from the current levels of less than 5 kmph to around 10-20 kmph on November 6 and 7.The increase in wind speed could help disperse smog across Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. AQI levels could improve by 20%-30% during afternoon and evening hours and by 10%-20% at night compared with current levels, he said.Dahiya also cautioned that the wind speeds could weaken again between November 8 and 13 due to an approaching western disturbance.Delhi air quality updateAccording to the Air Quality Early Warning System, Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Thursday before deteriorating to the ‘severe’ category between November 6 and 7.Story continues below this adThe ventilation index is likely to remain below 6,000 square metres per second, while average wind speeds are expected to stay below 10 kmph. Both conditions can restrict the dispersal of pollutants and cause them to accumulate over the city.According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between zero and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as ‘very poor’, and 401-500 as ‘severe’.