The image, shared by a Delhi resident, shows the river enveloped in dense smog, with visibility severely reduced. Captioing the photo, the man wrote, "Lockdown is needed here bhai, this fuckin looks worse than Chernobyl."
The post quickly drew reactions online, with users expressing shock and fear over the deteriorating air quality. Comments ranged from "What the hell is this" to "Omg! Haven't been to Delhi since ages. This looks terrible. Not that Yamuna river was great but this looks terrible! The Govt. is just hopeless" and "Stay indoors. Stay safe."
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However, HT.com has not independently verified the image.
The viral image comes as Delhi continues to battle extremely poor air quality. On Thursday morning, the overall AQI of the city stood at 351, falling in the 'very poor' category, a day after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked Stage 3 restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the Delhi-NCR region.
Several major areas recorded AQI above 300, including Burari (369), Anand Vihar (390), Dwarka (348), Jahangirpuri (394), Narela (388), and Rohini (400). On Wednesday, the city's 24-hour average AQI was 327, slightly better than Tuesday's 353 and Monday's 328, marking the 21st consecutive day of AQI above 300.
While CAQM has lifted the most stringent Stage 3 restrictions, it noted that measures under Stage 1 and 2 GRAP would be intensified. Forecasts from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and IITM indicate that the city's air quality is likely to remain in the 'very poor' category over the coming days.