Pollution levels skyrocketed by the hour in Delhi yesterday, turning the air quality hazardous, which agencies consider unfit for inhalation even by healthier people. The hourly graph of the Central Control Room for Air Quality Management, which had briefly fallen below emergency levels on Saturday, recorded PM2.5 and PM10 concentration at 478 and 713 micrograms per cubic metre by afternoon.

A traffic policeman wearing mask controls traffic at India Gate amid smog and air pollution that reached high levels, in New Delhi on Sunday. PIC/PTI