A thick layer of smog enveloped the national capital Wednesday morning as its air quality remained in the 'very poor' category with an overall AQI of 363, while more areas fell into the "severe" zone.

The Jahangirpuri monitoring station registered a "severe" Air Quality Index at 418, while Vivek Vihar's reading was 407 and Anand Vihar's 402.

At 9 am, the AQI at Sonia Vihar was close to the "severe" category at 398, while Wazirpur recorded 396.

Overall, the city's AQI at 9 am was 363.

The city was covered in a thick layer of smog as almost all weather monitoring stations fell into the red zone, with more areas moving into the maroon zone of Central Pollution Control Board's color-coded warnings.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good,' 51 to 100 'satisfactory,' 101 to 200 'moderate,' 201 to 300 'poor,' 301 to 400 'very poor,' and 401 to 500 'severe.' Currently, the city is under stage two of the anti-pollution measure Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Several restrictions are in place, and more measures, such as the closure of schools, may be implemented if pollution levels continue to increase.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 20.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, three notches below the average for this time of year. The humidity level stood at 83 per cent at 8 am.

The weather office has predicted clear skies for the day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 34 degrees Celsius.

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