New Delhi: Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to the ‘severe’ category on Friday (November 13) morning, with the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) crossing the 400 mark to touch 403, as a thick blanket of smog enveloped the national capital.According to The Hindustan Times’s real-time air quality dashboard and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), AQI stood at 403 at 7:30 AM., 82 points higher than the previous 24 hours.The HT dashboard also reported that 32 of the 59 reporting stations were in the severe category and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was the leading pollutant at 48 of the city’s 58 monitoring stations.The city’s final 24-hour average AQI bulletin for today will be released at 4:00 PM.As per the NDTV report, IIT Delhi recorded the highest AQI at 487, followed by Chandni Chowk at 479 and North Campus of Delhi University at 478.Burari Crossing recorded an AQI of 456, while ITO and Jawaharlal Nehru University both registered 451. Other locations in the severe category included Jahangirpuri (430), Wazirpur (427), Anand Vihar (419), Rohini (413), IGI Airport Terminal 3 (403) and Tikri Kalan (402).The CPCB classifies an AQI of 0-50 as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor and 401-500 as severe. According to a HT report, the city’s PM2.5 concentration more than doubled in 24 hours to reach 244 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) by 6:00 PM. on Thursday, around four times the national standard.The report noted that calm wind conditions persisted at Safdarjung throughout Thursday night, with all 11 observations between 8:00 PM. and 6.30 AM. recording still air, restricting the dispersal of pollutants and allowing them to accumulate.Meanwhile, satellite observations detected 4,107 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana between October 1 and November 12, including 3,729 in Punjab and 378 in Haryana, according to the Hindustan Times report. As many as 96 fires were detected on November 12.The corresponding count during the same period last year was 4,220, the report said.However, the report noted that satellite-based counts may underestimate the actual number of fires, as the timing of stubble burning has increasingly shifted to later hours. According to its analysis, 98%of the fire heat detected by Meteosat in 2025 occurred after 3 pm, compared with 94% in 2024.The Wire previously reported that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had already invoked Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR on November 6, anticipating a further deterioration in air quality.Under Stage III, restrictions include a ban on several dust-generating construction and demolition activities, closure of stone crushers and mining operations, and curbs on certain categories of older petrol and diesel vehicles in Delhi and adjoining NCR districts.Stage IV, the highest level of restrictions under GRAP, is triggered when Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI enters the ‘severe plus’ category, above 450.Delhi last recorded a severe air quality day on January 19, when its 24-hour average AQI stood at 410, according to CPCB data.According to the CPCB’s All India AQI portal, as of 2:05 PM today, Delhi’s AQI stood at 394. It is important to note that the readings on the portal continued to fluctuate, even as the displayed updated time remained unchanged.