Delhi Airport Urges Caution Amid Severe Smog and Poor Visibility

Delhi's thickening smog has intensified concerns over air quality and visibility, compelling authorities to issue a public advisory at the city’s primary airport. Passengers have been advised to allocate additional travel time due to delays from reduced visibility, which has led to longer check-in and boarding processes at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The city’s air quality index (AQI) has reached levels marked as “severe” in several areas, where pollution readings persistently hover above 400, pushing the AQI scale into the hazardous range, according to data from SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research).

With air quality deteriorating swiftly, authorities are keeping Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) firmly in place. This stage enforces stringent pollution control measures across Delhi and the broader National Capital Region (NCR), including halts on non-essential construction activities and a continued ban on older BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles. Such measures aim to limit additional air contamination sources, as current levels are exacerbated by high numbers of crop-residue burning incidents in neighboring states. Although there was a dip in the impact from farm fires, emissions from such activities still contribute significantly to particulate matter levels across the NCR.