Delhi Celebrates Most-Polluted Diwali in Five Years
Uttar Pradesh records hazardous levels of AQI with Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Lucknow crossing 500 in the early hours of Monday
UdaipurTimes, Nov 9, 2026 - The air quality over Delhi and its neighbouring NCR has shown serious levels of pollution on Diwali and thereafter. Delhi, in fact, recorded its most-polluted Diwali in five years with the AQI index showing “very poor” air quality at an average of 376. A day after Diwali, the city and its surrounding areas were enveloped in a thick blanket of smog with visibility dropping down significantly.
Revellers kept firecrackers going till late into the night and into the wee hours of the next morning despite Court orders allowing use of only certified low-polluting crackers on November 7 and 8, with complete ban on November 9. On Monday morning, the AQI was recorded at 418 in Delhi's Patparganj, 406 at ITO, 381 at Rajiv Chowk and 360 in areas around South Extension, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) had been imposed in the national capital before Diwali as a "pre-emptive" step.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Uttar Pradesh also recorded hazardous levels of AQI with some cities like Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Lucknow crossing 500 in the early hours of Monday.
With Media Inputs
