Chandigarh, Oct. 22 -- The city's air quality index (AQI) slipped into the 'very poor' category in half of Chandigarh's monitoring stations on Diwali night, but improved rapidly within hours - a marked improvement from previous years, according to data from the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC).

The reason, experts say, was the relatively warm weather which helped disperse the pollutants quickly.

As per the CPCC data, the AQI crossed 300 at three stations - IMTech, Sector 39 (318); Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12 (312); and CAAQMS, Sector 53 (304), all in the 'very poor' category, during the peak celebrations. Sector 25 and Sector 22 recorded poor air quality with AQI levels of 296 and 234, respectively, while Sector 1...