- Delhi recorded its most polluted Diwali in five years after residents defied firecracker restrictions, engulfing the Indian capital in a thick blanket of toxic smog.
- Air quality index readings exceeded 400 at official monitoring stations and crossed hazardous levels of 2,000 at private tracking sites across the city.
- Levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 micro-particles reached 879 micrograms per cubic metre in parts of Delhi, almost 59 times the World Health Organisation's recommended daily limit.
- Former Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the government of air quality data fraud after real-time monitoring allegedly stopped in several key sectors.
- The seasonal crisis was further exacerbated by crop-residue burning in neighbouring states alongside stagnant winter weather conditions that prevented pollutants from dispersing.
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