India's top court banned traditional firecrackers in Delhi amid air quality concerns ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Thick smog blanketed India’s capital on Tuesday, a day after millions celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali with fireworks that sent air pollution levels soaring to hazardous levels across the city.

Of the total 38 monitoring stations in Delhi, 35 were in the 'red zone', indicating 'very poor' to 'severe' air quality. | Latest News India

Scientists note that higher sunshine hours from October to May don't indicate cleaner air; rather, they reflect more cloud-free days. Hazy winter sunlight may scatter or diffuse, lowering intensity without entirely blocking sunshine, which instruments still record as sunshine hours.

India’s capital is choking on toxic air following the Hindu Festival of Lights, despite court-approved “green” alternatives.

The AQI of Delhi has worsened after Diwali night, with residents of the national capital being allowed to burst green firecrackers by the Supreme Court. As the air quality worsens, here are some tips residents and travellers must take in Delhi.

As Diwali fireworks lit up skies across India, toxic air and pollutants drifted across the border into Pakistan. Lahore's air quality plunged to alarming levels, trailing only Delhi as the most-polluted city in the world.

As the Diwali celebrations come to an end, several parts of north India witnessed thick layers of smog on Tuesday morning, with air quality levels plunging into the “poor” and “very poor” categories.

As Lahore's air quality plunges once again, Pakistan scrambles with emergency measures like anti-smog guns, even as it blames India's Diwali for worsening pollution. However, experts point to Pakistan's long-standing environmental failures as the real cause of its recurring smog crisis.

This special report unpacks the severe air pollution crisis in Delhi following Diwali, and the escalating political war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).