The air quality in Delhi on Saturday has again fallen into the ‘very poor’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Currently, the overall AQI of Delhi stands at 346, while the number was at 300 yesterday.

As per the CPCB, the AQI at Jahangpuri was recorded at 404. The air quality in Shadipur was 409, while it was 408 in the Wazirpur area of the national capital. Punjabi Bagh's AQI was 384 at 9.15 am today, 384 in Nehru Nagar, 375 in Ashok Vihar, 382 in Rohini, 386 in Bawana, 383 in Mundka, and 386 in Anand Vihar.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stressed the need to stop crop residue burning, which affects air quality in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), and asked state governments to take steps to curb pollution.

"Let us at least endeavor for the next winter to be a little better," a bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said. Crop burning "must stop," Justice Kaul said while underscoring the need for judicial monitoring to ensure people do not face the same scenario every winter.

The apex court observed that farm fires were still significant. The top court was hearing a matter related to an air pollution issue in Delhi-NCR during the winter, year after year.

The bench took note that several meetings of the committee chaired by the Union Cabinet Secretary were held and it has prepared an action plan for states, including Punjab and Haryana, to deal with the issue. The bench asked the states concerned to implement the action plans and submit progress reports to the apex court within two months.

"Possibly, this matter needs continuous monitoring. What happens is that when the problem arises, we suddenly take it up. The court must monitor it for some time," the bench observed.

Attorney General R Venkataramani also submitted a note on the Centre's behalf about the steps to be taken to check farm fires and also placed the minutes of meetings of the committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.