Delhi woke up the morning after Diwali to severe air, with the Air Quality Index above 400 in parts of the capital.

The Supreme Court had allowed certified green crackers in Delhi-NCR only on 7 and 8 November, and only at set hours.

Those hours were 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm. Regular fireworks stayed banned, and a full ban returned on 9 November.

People still burst crackers across the city, and poor weather kept the smoke trapped over Delhi.

Environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said PM2.5 levels went from about 300 in the morning to about 1,000 at night.

The official scale stops at 500, and anything above 400 counts as severe. Some private monitors showed 1,000 to 1,500.

Green crackers were developed by CSIR-NEERI and are said to cause around 30 per cent less pollution. They still release emissions.

In its latest order, the court said it did not have enough data to judge whether the 2024 full ban had worked.

In Mumbai, the civic body pulled an awareness video with Dia Mirza after a BJP leader objected. The Bombay High Court told it to restore the video.

Vehicles cause 23 per cent of Delhi's winter pollution and biomass burning 20 per cent, according to the environment ministry.

Read the full story on Diwali firecrackers and Delhi's smog on Trends News Stories.

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