Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the pollution-level in Delhi after Diwali was the “lowest” in five years, even as the city’s air quality plummeted to the “severe” category for the first time this season with a large number of revellers brazenly flouting the Supreme Court-enforced two-hour limit for bursting crackers.

He, however, claimed that crackers were burnt on a large scale in the areas surrounding Delhi and that was likely to affect the air quality in the national capital.

The AQI at Pusa, Lodhi Road, Airport Terminal T3, Noida, Mathura Road, Ayanagar, IIT Delhi, Dhirpur, and Chandni Chowk was 480, 436, 460, 668, 413, 477, 483, 553 and 466, respectively.

SAFAR said an increase in the wind speed will help disperse pollutants and the pollution levels are expected to come down by evening.

Delhi’s apprehensions came true despite the top court’s order that only green firecrackers, which cause 30 per cent less pollution, can be manufactured and sold, and the Arvind Kejriwal government organising a mega laser show in an effort to dissuade people from bursting crackers.

Delhi’s overall air quality index stood at 463 at 11.30 am, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.

It had earlier predicted that Delhi’s overall AQI would enter the “severe” category between 1 am and 6 am on Monday, primarily due to firecracker emissions, unfavourable weather and a significant spike in stubble burning.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor”, and 401-500 “severe”. Above 500 is “severe-plus emergency” category.

Ambala, Hisar and Kurulshetra in Haryana recorded their AQI at 370, 380, and 377, respectively. In Uttar Pradesh’ Muzaffarnagar, Moradbabad, Meerut, it was 414, 393 and 330.The AQI in Punjab’s Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Khanna stood at 334, 314, 321 and 301, respectively.

Residents in Noida, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad also reported extensive fireworks much beyond the timeframe.