The air quality in the national capital deteriorated to the “severe” category a day after Diwali after people flouted fire cracker ban.

Air Quality Index (AQI) at Punjabi Bagh and Anand Vihar recorded as 464 and 471 respectively, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The neighbouring cities of Gurugram (407) and Noida (609) also recorded their AQI in the severe category, according to SAFAR.

Although the Delhi government had imposed a complete ban on firecrackers, violations were reported across the city and the National Capital Region as crackers could be heard going off till early morning.

A dense layer of smog covered Delhi post Diwali.

SAFAR said an improvement in the air quality is expected starting the second half of Sunday, with light rain expected across the capital. Wind direction is expected to change to south easterly, reducing the impact of farm fires on Delhi’s air. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the Indian Meteorological Department’s regional forecasting centre, on Saturday too said that the air quality was likely to improve after Diwali due to an increase in the wind speed.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had on Monday imposed a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight, saying “celebration by crackers is for happiness and not to celebrate deaths and diseases”.

The Central Pollution Control Board has asked all State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs), Pollution Control Committees and Regional Directorates of CPCB to conduct ambient air quality monitoring at two or three locations for seven days after Diwali to study the impact of pollutants.