A haze of smoke and political blame game engulfed Delhi after Deepavali night as air pollution in the national capital spiked to over 17 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe limits, making it the most polluted major city in the world on Tuesday.
Residents across the Capital burst firecrackers before and after the permitted 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. window on Monday, with banned varieties openly available in markets. According to IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 429, the worst globally, followed by Lahore (260) and Karachi (182) on Tuesday morning.
