SHOTLIST:

NEW DELHI, INDIA (DEC. 18, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF VEHICLES MOVING ON ROAD AMID SMOG

2. MOTORCYCLES PARKED (TWO SHOTS)

3. PEOPLE SLEEPING ON SIDEWALK

4. PEOPLE WALKING ON CROWDED STREET AMID SMOG (TWO SHOTS)

5. PEOPLE WALKING AT COURTYARD OF JAMA MASJID (TWO SHOTS)

6. DOME OF JAMA MASJID (TWO SHOTS)

7. WIDE SHOTS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN CROWDED STREET (TWO SHOTS)

8. STREET VENDORS AT CROWDED STREET

NEW DELHI, INDIA - DEC. 18: Air quality in New Delhi plummeted to hazardous levels Thursday, Dec. 18, as the season’s thickest smog blanketed the city, prompting authorities to invoke the strictest emergency measures to date.

The air quality index, or AQI, in the capital hit a severe score of 491 out of 500 as of Sunday morning, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. The reading marked a sharp increase from Saturday’s evening level of 441.

In response, the Commission for Air Quality Management invoked Stage IV of its Graded Response Action Plan, the highest level of intervention. The measures, which took effect early Thursday, include a mandate for 50% of government and private office staff to work from home and a ban on refueling any vehicle that lacks a valid pollution certificate.

The emergency plan also restricted the entry of older diesel trucks, halted all nonessential construction projects, and shifted schools to a hybrid learning model. Visitors were seen walking through the courtyard of the historic Jama Masjid mosque amid the heavy smog, while officials urged vulnerable residents—particularly children and those with respiratory conditions—to remain indoors.

Authorities said high humidity and shifting wind patterns have prevented pollutants from dispersing, creating a stagnant layer of toxic air over the metropolitan area.


Reporting by Imtiyaz Khan / Writing by Ayse Elif Erdis