With Chandigarh saying no to crackers, the city on Sunday saw AQI at 140 against 341 on last Diwali, officials said.

Thanking the residents for cracker-free Diwali on Saturday, the local administration said it was committed to provide a pollution-free environment, and an air action plan is being implemented in the city to reduce the air pollution.

Keeping in view the need to check the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and to avoid inconvenience to affected persons and persons with other respiratory issues, the administration had banned the sale and bursting of crackers.

The ambient air quality data collected for the city is the testimony to the fact that the citizens of Chandigarh stood to the occasion for the cause of health and environment, the administration said in a statement.

The results indicated that there was remarkable reduction in air pollution in comparison to last year despite the fact that last year, Diwali was on October 27, when the air pollution is comparatively less than November, it said.

From the data captured from the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS), it is observed that there is drastic reduction in AQI (Air Quality Index) from 341 (very poor) in 2019 to 140 (moderate) in 2020.

The ambient air quality data recorded on Diwali was almost equivalent to the data captured on normal days before Diwali.

However, it has been observed during the past years that the AQI worsens drastically on Diwali day, compared to the normal days recorded prior to Diwali.

During 2019, the AQI on normal day was 110 compared to 341 on Diwali day, it said.

Likewise, remarkable observation has also been made in the ambient noise levels wherein maximum noise level recorded during Diwali was 66.6 dB (A) Leq. against the maximum value of 79.8 dB(A) Leq. recorded in 2019.