Overview
- The Delhi government issued tenders on December 19 to install air purifiers in 10,000 government‑school classrooms as the first phase of a plan covering roughly 38,000 classrooms.
- Officials said the Public Works Department will use environment‑cess funds to buy mechanical road sweepers for each assembly constituency, with additional funding to the MCD for similar equipment.
- Air quality worsened into the severe range at many locations, with CPCB data showing several stations above 400 AQI and hotspots such as Chandni Chowk reaching the mid‑460s as dense fog caused major travel disruptions.
- Stage‑4 of the Graded Response Action Plan remains in force, with Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa warning of strict action against violators as authorities inspected 3,052 industries, flagged 612 as non‑compliant and the MCD issued 771 challans with fines totaling ₹33.95 lakh.
- Experts attributed the spike to temperature inversion, low winds and a cold wave, and forecasts indicate AQI is likely to stay severe through Monday before a possible shift to very poor on Tuesday.