Delhi woke up to a thick blanket of toxic air on Sunday, with pollution levels refusing to give any breathing space. The air quality reached 'severe' levels in many parts of the city and neighbouring areas, making this the tenth straight day of dangerous smog. Anand Vihar recorded an AQI of 429 at 7:34 AM, while Burari showed 402 — both firmly in the severe zone. Overall, Delhi's Air Quality Index stood at a worrying 380, a little worse than Saturday. Other hotspots didn't lag behind. Jahangirpuri’s AQI blazed at 438, Bawana at 431, and Ashok Vihar at 421. Narela also felt the heat with 415. The Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app confirmed that most monitoring stations reported AQI values beyond 400, signaling hazardous air everywhere. The toxic air fight spread to the National Capital Region (NCR), too. Noida, in Uttar Pradesh, recorded a severe AQI of 436, while nearby Greater Noida faced ‘very poor’ air with a reading of 325. Ghaziabad struggled too, hitting 426 in the severe category. Gurugram was a bit better but not safe, scoring 286 in the ‘poor’ category. To tackle this grim scenario, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) updated the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) after the Supreme Court’s warning about worsening air quality. The new plan makes pollution control actions happen faster and earlier, so restrictions start when AQI levels drop slightly, rather than waiting for extreme values. For example, measures that were previously triggered only when AQI reached 'Poor' levels (201–300) now kick in at Stage I. These include ensuring smooth power supply to cut diesel generator use, adding more traffic managers to reduce jams, broadcasting pollution alerts across media, and expanding clean fuel buses and metro services. Steps once delayed till 'Very Poor' (301–400) will now begin earlier at Stage II. This means offices across Delhi and nearby cities like Gurugram and Faridabad will stagger work timings to reduce crowding. At the highest alert, measures for ‘Severe’ pollution (401–500) are now applied at Stage III, including allowing offices to run at only 50% attendance, encouraging work from home. Following this, the Delhi government urged private offices to halve on-site staff and let the rest work remotely. The official advice aims to limit pollution exposure and ease traffic snarls. With Delhi wrapped in another layer of choking smog, these new rules could be the game-changer to clean the toxic air faster. But will Delhiites finally get clean, fresh air soon? Only time will tell!