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Delhi experienced extremely cold weather on Tuesday morning along with high levels of smog as thick fog covered the entire city.

The atmosphere had low visibility, due to which people found it difficult to breathe, as the air quality remained a matter of concern.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that at 7 am the temperature reached approximately 12 degrees Celsius. People who went outside for their work, school, or morning walks discovered that the sky above them appeared grey while they faced polluted air.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported that Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 256 at 7 am, placing it in the 'poor' category.

The air quality in various locations showed even worse conditions. Chandni Chowk had an AQI of 324, Wazirpur recorded 316, and Okhla Phase-2 logged 310, which all fell under the 'very poor' category.

The areas of Ashok Vihar, Dwarka Sector-8, Punjabi Bagh, and RK Puram reported dangerous air pollution at their respective levels of 287, 293, 295, and 300.

The city showed different levels of pollution across its various locations. Narela recorded a comparatively lower AQI of 168, which falls under the 'moderate' category.

Alipur reported an AQI of 212, which remained poor but showed better results than many central areas. The air quality throughout Delhi showed unsafe conditions which particularly affected sensitive groups such as children and elderly people and individuals who had respiratory illnesses.

The official system assigns AQI values which show good air quality between 0 and 50 and satisfactory air quality between 51 and 100 and moderate air quality between 101 and 200 and poor air quality between 201 and 300 and very poor air quality between 301 and 400 and severe air quality between 401 and 500.

The pollution problem during winter months which creates fog and smog combined shows its serious impact because most of Delhi experienced poor air quality on Tuesday morning, ANI reported.

The Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi requested immediate solutions to rising pollution problems. He requested a parliamentary discussion about air pollution on Sunday and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare it a national health emergency.

Gandhi shared in a Facebook video that people throughout India experience fear especially about their children and parents. He explained that pollution has developed into a health crisis that demands government funding through the Union Budget to address the situation.

The Budget session of Parliament will continue for 65 days until it concludes on April 2. The Houses will take a short break on February 13 and resume on March 9. The public now expects clean air to become a main focus which should lead to actual results instead of remaining a topic in public speeches.

With inputs from agency.