The verdict, weather removed
On its own count the pipeline puts the observed year at +31.8 points; with the weather removed it is still +2 points worse, on the model's count across 30 of 31 stations. 5 of 6 pollutants show no real improvement.
Against yesterday: the one-day move
From 110 to 121. The 95 per cent interval runs 4.5 to 20.5 points, on 45 matched stations.
Against last year: the observed reading
Today 121 across 45 stations. The year is judged on the 37 matched stations: 127 today against 90, the mean of the same date ±7 days of 2025 at those stations. The interval runs 23.4 to 54.1 points.
The worst station in the city today
Poor, on PM2.5. Last year this station read 115 on the ±7-day mean around this date; the change is 182 points. Within 500 m of the monitor, 84% of the land is built up and 14% is under vegetation, so this reading describes a densely built neighbourhood.
The year, from its best days to its worst
On the same 231 dates the best tenth of days reads 84 against 75, and the worst tenth 303 against 301. Each is unchanged inside its margin, and the days at or below 200 went from 152 to 153.
How much of the city was above AQI 200
That is 13.1 of 43.1 reporting stations, against 31 per cent over the same dates last year, a change of +0.5 points on an interval of -3.2 to +4.2, so it is unchanged inside its margin.
Who the monitoring network reaches
Within 4 km live 88 per cent of Delhi's people, within 2 km 41 per cent, and within 500 m only 3.3 per cent. India's own rules ask for about 46 particulate monitors, because IS 5182 scales the count to population, and Delhi has 44. So the count test passes, while 29 of the 44 zones still stretch past 4 km, which is as far as a monitor is held to speak.
What each monitor's reading speaks for
That is 7.8 per cent of Delhi, living around the 2 monitors that read Poor or worse. Anand Vihar was worst at 297, and 1,363,291 people live within 4 km of it. On the wider count, 82 per cent live within 4 km of a monitor at Moderate or worse.
