'Making Their Own Lives Miserable,' Abhijit Dipke Slams Public Attitude Towards Pollution

Delhi and Mumbai woke up under a blanket of smog after Diwali. Air quality worsened sharply in both cities, with Delhi close to the severe category on Monday morning and many monitoring stations above 400.

Mumbai's Kherwadi-Bandra East station recorded an AQI of 264, while smog cut visibility in parts of the national capital. CJP founder Abhijit Dipke also took a swipe at public attitudes to pollution. "Never seen people so determined to make their own lives miserable," he wrote on X as the two cities woke to smog-covered skies after the festival.

Delhi Air Quality Readings

Delhi's figures were the worst in the list. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data put Burari Crossing at 441, the city's highest reading. Vivek Vihar followed at 437, Delhi Technological University (DTU) at 434, and North Campus of Delhi University and Jahangirpuri at 433 each. Rohini recorded 430.

The severe zone also included Ghazipur at 418, Mundka at 417, Punjabi Bagh at 409, NIH Narela at 407 and ITO at 407. Parts of the capital, including Inderlok, were under a thick layer of smog, with hazy conditions and lower visibility reported across several neighbourhoods.

Other Delhi locations also remained highly polluted. CRRI Mathura Road was at 396, Aya Nagar at 386, Talkatora Garden at 384, NSUT Jaffarpur at 378 and Lodhi Road at 370. Mandir Marg, Wazirpur, R K Puram, Badarpur and IHBAS Dilshad Garden were also above 360.

Among the other stations, Akshardham recorded 337, Najafgarh 340, Anand Vihar 335, IMD Lodhi Road 323 and Ashok Vihar 319. Sri Aurobindo Marg was at 267. Data for IIT Delhi and Dwarka Sector 8 was unavailable.

Mumbai And Lucknow

Mumbai also saw air quality slip further. Smog was especially visible in Kalanagar and Bandra. CPCB monitoring data showed Kherwadi-Bandra East at 264, Sewri at 226, Ghatkopar at 221 and Chembur at 216.

Other Mumbai stations also stayed in the poor-to-mid range. Byculla recorded 193, Mindspace-Malad West 191, Kandivali West 187 and Worli 148. Kurla was comparatively better at 96.

Lucknow too woke up to hazy skies. A thick layer of smog was reported across several parts of the Uttar Pradesh capital on Monday morning.

GRAP Restrictions Explained

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) activated Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR on Friday, ahead of Diwali, citing a risk of further air-quality deterioration. The measures cover Delhi and adjoining districts in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The restrictions include limits on construction and demolition work, tighter checks on polluting vehicles, hybrid learning for primary school students and stronger pollution-control enforcement. The system is run by the CAQM with the CPCB and state authorities.

GRAP has four stages. Stage I applies when AQI falls in the 201-300 range and Stage II is triggered at 301-400. Stage III covers 401-450, while Stage IV takes effect once AQI goes above 450 and enters the "severe plus" category. The framework relies on weather and pollution forecasts from the IMD and IITM.