Several places in Haryana reported air quality index (AQI) in the 'poor' and 'very poor' categories on Thursday, Diwali night.
Many places in Punjab and the Union Territory of Chandigarh reported air quality indexes in the 'poor' category. As of 11 p.m. on Thursday, the AQI in Gurugram, Haryana, was recorded at 322, 336 in Jind, and 306 in Charkhi Dadri, according to the Sameer app, which provides hourly updates of the national AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Among other places in Haryana, as of 11 pm, AQI in Ambala was recorded at 201, in Bahadurgarh it was 292, Bhiwani 278, Ballabhgarh 211, Faridabad 245, Kurukshetra 270, Panchkula 220, Rohtak 222 and Sonipat at 258.
Chandigarh's AQI was recorded at 239 as of 11 pm on Thursday.
In Jalandhar, the AQI at 11 pm was 256, while at Ludhiana, it was 234, Mandi Gobindgarh 266, while Patiala recorded an AQI of 244.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
Meanwhile, Diwali was celebrated with great fervour, gaiety and enthusiasm in Haryana and Punjab on Thursday. Candles, diyas (earthen lamps) and electric lights dotted houses as people exchanged sweets and gifts on the occasion and burst firecrackers.
The authorities granted permission to burn only "green crackers" for a restricted period of time on Diwali day.
In Chandigarh, the twin capital of Punjab and Haryana, only green crackers were allowed between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
However, in many parts of Chandigarh, people continued to burst firecrackers well past the 10 pm limit.
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