Delhi AQI crosses 321: IIT Delhi records Delhi's highest AQI of 414 on November 12 as city's overall pollution level increases 21 points in a day

Delhi woke up to very poor air quality on November 12, with the city's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 321 at 7 am. IIT Delhi recorded the highest reading at 414, placing it in the severe category, while 39 other monitoring stations reported very poor air quality.

The overall AQI was 21 points higher than the reading recorded at the same time on November 11, according to the Delhi government's Department of Environment dashboard. Of the city's 59 monitoring stations, 57 were reporting data at the time.

Delhi AQI: Top five most polluted monitoring stations

IIT Delhi was the most polluted monitoring location, with an AQI of 414. NSUT Jaffarpur followed at 399, while ITO recorded 397.

Monitoring station	AQI	Category
IIT Delhi	414	Severe
NSUT Jaffarpur	399	Very Poor
ITO	397	Very Poor
North Campus	394	Very Poor
Chandni Chowk	387	Very Poor

Delhi AQI: Readings at other monitoring stations

Other stations reporting high AQI readings included JNU at 378, DTU at 374, Punjabi Bagh at 371 and Chhawla at 368.

Monitoring station	AQI	Category
JNU	378	Very Poor
DTU	374	Very Poor
Punjabi Bagh	371	Very Poor
Chhawla	368	Very Poor
CRRI Mathura Road	365	Very Poor
NIH Narela	364	Very Poor
Aya Nagar	363	Very Poor
Talkatora Garden	362	Very Poor
Commonwealth Sports Complex	352	Very Poor
Sirifort	347	Very Poor
Jahangirpuri	342	Very Poor

Among the stations with lower readings, Cantonment Area recorded an AQI of 128, the only moderate reading. Alipur, Mandir Marg, Narela and Okhla Phase-2 were among the locations reporting poor air quality.

How many Delhi monitoring stations reported poor air quality?

Of the 57 stations reporting data, 39 recorded very poor air quality, 16 were in the poor category, one was in the severe category and one reported moderate air quality. Badarpur and Lodhi Road were not reporting readings.

PM2.5 was the leading pollutant at 48 of the 57 reporting stations, while PM10 was the prominent pollutant at the remaining nine.