Amid the severe pollution gripping the national capital, Delhi Metro recorded its highest-ever daily ridership on Monday, with a staggering 78.67 lakh passenger journeys, according to official data. On Monday, Delhi Transport Corporation's contractual bus drivers and conductors also held a strike leading to a disruption in public transportation.

As the air in the national capital has turned 'severe' with the air quality index touching nearly 500 in some areas earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi Government requested the Centre to allow cloud seeding- a method used to induce artificial rain to combat air pollution. According to experts, artificial rain can wash away pollutants from the atmosphere and help improve the air quality. How is artificial rain induced and will it work for Delhi? Click here to read.

The air quality in Delhi slightly improved to the "severe" category on Tuesday evening as the AQI dropped to 444 at around 9pm, after touching nearly 500 in the "severe plus" category earlier in the day, data provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai wrote to Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav over clearances for artificial rain, saying that it is "needed" as an emergency measure to reduce pollution and help citizens.

"Clearances needed from Centre's DGCA, MHA, Defence Ministry, and other agencies...request Union Environment Minister to convene stakeholder meeting immediately," he wrote in the letter.

Gopal Rai pitched for a united effort in North Indian states to mitigate pollution, while accusing BJP governments in neighbouring states of doing 'politics' over air pollution.

"In Centre, UP, Haryana and Rajasthan, there are BJP governments. They don't know how to do something other than politics. All the governments of the Northern States will have to work together. The Delhi government is working day and night and the BJP government is sitting silently. This gap needs to be filled," Gopal Rai told ANI.

Delhi BJP leaders and workers on Tuesday held a protest against the AAP-led Delhi government over the issue of air pollution in the national capital.

Amid the worsening air pollution in the national capital, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that they are considering further curbs on vehicles. They are also mulling an option of artificial rain to help clear the smog, he said.

 Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi announces that the classes will be conducted in online mode till Saturday, November 23 due to the severe air quality. In a notice, the institute said, "The AQI in Delhi and NCR has deteriorated to an alarmingly high index. In the larger interest of students of the University, it has been decided that the classes shall be conducted in online mode till November 23."

It added that the regular classes in physical mode shall resume from November 25.

A thick layer of smog has been enveloping Delhi for the past few days with the air quality index (AQI) plummeting to the "severe-plus" category. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has questioned whether Delhi should remain the Indian capital as the city's worsening toxic smog surged past 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Delhi's hazardous air quality was a key focus at COP29, as experts warned about the health risks of air pollution and called for immediate global action.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday morning distributed masks to the public at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station as air quality remains toxic in the national capital.

A thick blanket of smog continued to grip Delhi and its adjoining areas on Tuesday morning, as the air quality nearly touched the 500 mark.

The district magistrate of Ghaziabad has ordered all schools to discontinue physical classes till Class 12 and conduct online classes until further notice. This comes as Ghaziabad touched an AQI of over 450 on Monday.

At least 22 trains have been delayed on Tuesday morning due to the low visibility owing to the poor air quality. 

With Delhi's air quality remaining toxic in the 'severe plus' category, the Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have shifted their classes online.