Delhi’s air quality remains ‘poor’; minimum temperature recorded at 15.7°C
Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) remained in the ‘poor’ category as the city recorded a minimum temperature of 15.7°C on Wednesday, 0.4 degrees below normal. The development comes a day after the national Capital recorded its coldest day of the month, clocking a minimum temperature of 15.3°C.
Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) was the predominant pollutant at 42 of Delhi’s 58 reporting stations at 6am on Wednesday, while PM10 was the main pollutant at 15 stations, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Farm fires data Meanwhile, satellite data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detected 767 farm fires in Punjab and Haryana between October 1 and 27, including 661 in Punjab and 106 in Haryana. Of these, 65 fires were detected on Tuesday. An HT analysis of data from Meteosat, a European weather satellite that scans the region every 15 minutes, shows the shift. In 2021, about 40% of the fire heat Meteosat recorded came between 1pm and 3pm. In 2025, less than 1% did, and 98% came after 3pm. India’s INSAT-3DS satellite, which scans every half hour, shows the same: from October 16, 2025, 99% of the fire pixels it flagged in Punjab and Haryana came after 3pm. Ayanagar was the coldest among the city’s five weather stations, recording a minimum temperature of 14.8°C, followed by Palam at 15.5 degrees Celsius and Safdarjung at 15.7°C. Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 16.2°C, while the Ridge station recorded 16.5°C, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.
