India, Nov. 2 -- A week ahead of Diwali, a haze of pollutants shrouded the skyline in the early hours on Sunday as the Capital's air quality index (AQI) dipped into the "poor" category, erasing the brief respite brought on by rains last week. Forecasts show that the situation is expected to worsen in the coming days, dipping into the "very poor" category in the second half of this week.

The city recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 261 ("poor"), according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)'s 4pm bulletin, worsening over 144 points from a day earlier when it registered 117 ("moderate") category.

It continued to deteriorate through the data, registering at 272 at 6pm, 287 by 10pm, and 290 by 11pm. This comes two days after heavy r...