India, Oct. 21 -- As predicted. As has been the norm for decades.

Come festive week, Delhi-NCR's AQI started dipping, crossing a 350 on the scale at 8AM in the morning after Diwali night festivities concluded on Monday, October 20.

The verdict? Green crackers or not, we are officially in 'very poor' territory.

Well-anticipated, GRAP-2 restrictions were imposed in Delhi late last week in an attempt to curb the impact of the severely degrading air quality.

A Business Standard report states, "The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) is a framework designed to combat air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region. It was introduced as an emergency response mechanism, and its implementation is triggered when the AQI reaches 'poor' levels."

The Actio...