Construction activities banned in New Delhi as air quality in severe category

As the air quality continued to deteriorate to "severe" after reading "extremely bad" for five consecutive days, the administration of the national capital Delhi, India, on Sunday issued orders to stop building and demolition operations in and around the national capital, Report informs, citing Indian media.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) ordered officials to rescind the restrictions put into place in the Delhi-NCR under stage III of GRAP on November 14. This included a ban on all but necessary building operations.

The AQI reading on Sunday was 407, which was worse than the reading on Saturday. At 4 pm on Sunday, Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index was 407. On November 4, when the AQI was 447, Delhi's pollution level was classified as "severe."