📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Striving tranquil
Weather
Delhi-NCR Suffers Severe Smog on Diwali Night, AQI Approaches 400
✍️ NDTV
🗓 09 Nov 2026, 03:31 AM
👁 19
Heavy firecracker emissions and winter fog pushed Delhi’s air quality index close to 400 on Diwali night, prompting health warnings across the National Capital Region.
Delhi and its surrounding National Capital Region experienced a sudden surge in air pollution on the night of Diwali, as dense smoke from firecrackers combined with winter fog to blanket the sky. Monitoring stations reported the Air Quality Index climbing to nearly 400, a level classified as severe and hazardous for public health.
The Delhi Pollution Control Board issued an advisory urging residents to limit outdoor activities, especially those with respiratory conditions, and to wear N95 masks when venturing outside. Hospitals in the region noted an uptick in patients reporting breathing difficulties and eye irritation.
Experts attributed the spike primarily to the widespread use of fireworks, which release fine particulate matter and toxic gases. Unfavourable meteorological conditions, including low wind speeds and temperature inversion, prevented the pollutants from dispersing, allowing concentrations to build rapidly.
Authorities have called for stricter enforcement of the existing ban on firecracker sales and are considering additional measures such as real‑time public alerts and temporary suspension of certain industrial activities until the AQI returns to safer levels.
The Delhi Pollution Control Board issued an advisory urging residents to limit outdoor activities, especially those with respiratory conditions, and to wear N95 masks when venturing outside. Hospitals in the region noted an uptick in patients reporting breathing difficulties and eye irritation.
Experts attributed the spike primarily to the widespread use of fireworks, which release fine particulate matter and toxic gases. Unfavourable meteorological conditions, including low wind speeds and temperature inversion, prevented the pollutants from dispersing, allowing concentrations to build rapidly.
Authorities have called for stricter enforcement of the existing ban on firecracker sales and are considering additional measures such as real‑time public alerts and temporary suspension of certain industrial activities until the AQI returns to safer levels.