50 shades of grey: How capital is choking under ‘severe’ air quality for 5 days now

The blanket of smog over Delhi thickened on Monday, reducing visibility in parts of the city to just 400 metres as the air quality remained severe for fifth day in a row. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)

Smog engulfs around India Gate as air pollution continues to rise in New Delhi. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)

V K Soni, the head of the India Meteorological Department's environment research centre, told PTI that a major improvement in Delhi-NCR's air quality was "highly unlikely" in the coming days. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)

Government agencies and experts told PTI that calm wind was exacerbating the effect of stubble burning and a "quick recovery" is not possible unless the number of farm fires reduces drastically. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)

The city's air quality index (AQI) stood at 477, the highest since November 3 last year when it was 494, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. Its 24-hour average AQI was 416 on Sunday, 427 on Saturday, 406 on Friday and 450 on Thursday. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)

The National Green Tribunal on Monday imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight. (Express photo: Gajendra Yadav)

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the wind speed was 3 to 4 kilometres per hour in the morning and the minimum temperature 10 degrees Celsius. Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)