Ground Report: Inside Punjab's War Room To Deal With Stubble-Burning

Since Wednesday morning, north India has been covered in a thick blanket of smog, leading to low visibility, a drop in temperature and the air quality deteriorating to the 'Severe' category.

Primary schools in Delhi will switch to online learning mode from Friday due to severe air pollution in the national capital, Chief Minister Atishi announced in a post on X.

Delhi and its adjoining areas have been covered under a blanket of thick smog since last morning and the air quality has plummeted to the 'Severe' category and the air quality index reported over 400 in several areas.

Delhi has enforced tighter rules to control air pollution after the air quality index, or AQI, reached the 'severe' category. All non-essential construction and demolition work are banned, among other actions.

Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was in Kerala's Wayanad for her first electoral contest, said returning to Delhi amid the toxic air pollution was "like entering a gas chamber".

Delhi's air quality remained in the 'severe' category for a second day on Thursday, with low wind speed contributing to a thick fog layer across the national capital.

Visuals showed the Taj Mahal, the UNESCO World Heritage site disappearing behind the smog, making it barely visible to tourists.

Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: A sharp spike in Delhi's air pollution was witnessed in the past 24 hours with 30 out of 36 monitoring stations reporting a severe air quality index.

There has been an early onset of toxic cover across Delhi and north India this year owing to stubble burning across the north Indian states. What is also shocking is the scale of the smog cover, as well as the level of pollutants present in it.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday said only the lieutenant governor has the power to formulate a policy for permanently reinstating the bus marshals as it is a matter of services and law and order.