Air quality deteriorated further on Wednesday as cold weather continued to grip the city, with most monitoring stations reporting “poor” or “very poor” air through the day. Of the seven air quality monitoring stations in Calcutta, one reported “very poor”, five reported “poor” and one recorded “moderate” air quality at noon. “It is difficult to pinpoint one reason for the dip in air quality on Wednesday. According to the National Air Quality Index (AQI) of the central PCB, “very poor” air can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure, while “poor” air can lead to breathing discomfort for most people. “Moderate” air quality is already two notches below the ideal “good” category, followed by “poor”, “very poor” and “severe”.

Source: The Telegraph January 08, 2026 01:05 UTC