India, Nov. 9 -- The Air Quality Index (AQI) across the city spiked to 'very poor' and 'severe' on Sunday evening, after staying in the moderate and poor categories through the day. AQI levels started rising after sunset, as firecrackers lit up the sky, and spiked further as the hours progressed, data from multiple AQI monitoring stations showed.

As of 10pm, Chakala in Andheri East recorded the highest AQI in the city at 483, up from 260 at 9pm and 42 at 8pm. At the Bandra Kurla Complex, the AQI spiked to 376 at 10pm from 206 at 9pm and 74 at 8pm, while at Kherwadi in Bandra East, it rose to 354.81 at 9pm from 276.84 at 8pm. At Chembur, the AQI was 334 at 10pm, up from 72 at 9pm, whereas at Mindspace, Malad the AQI at 10pm was 355.

As p...