Delhi wakes up to post-Diwali pollution nightmare, AQI breaches 480; several areas record severe air quality

By Parwinder Sandhu New Delhi, Nov 9 (UNI) Delhi woke up to a toxic cocktail of smog and fog on Monday, with air pollution plunging into the severe category following Diwali celebrations, as the city's official Air Quality Index (AQI) surged to 483 in the morning, underscoring the failure of stringent pollution-control measures to prevent the annual post-festival deterioration. The situation remained alarming despite the enforcement of Stage III restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR. A thick blanket of grey haze enveloped the national capital, sharply reducing visibility and exposing residents to dangerously high concentrations of…