India, Nov. 13 -- Delhi's air quality deteriorated into the "severe" zone - the worst grade on the government's pollution scale- on Friday morning, with a thick, smoky haze continuing to envelop the Capital.

According to HT's real-time air quality dashboard and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 403 at 7.30am, 82 points higher than the previous 24 hours.

Delhi last recorded severe air quality on January 19, when the AQI stood at 410.

CPCB classifies an AQI of 0-50 as "good", 51-100 as "satisfactory", 101-200 as "moderate", 201-300 as "poor", 301-400 as "very poor" and 401-500 as "severe".

HT reported earlier that Delhi's air quality deteriorated sharply on Thursday, with the city's PM2.5 conce...