India, Nov. 9 -- Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) report released on Monday late night claimed a marginal improvement in air quality the morning after Diwali, with its Air Quality Index (AQI) declining to 371 from 382, while noise levels on the festival day rose at 19 of the city's 26 monitoring locations compared to last year. The report showed a 2.9 per cent fall in AQI at 10 am on Monday, the morning after Diwali, compared to other years, due to meteorological factors, and also cited higher wind speeds as the reason.

However, both the Diwali-day and post-Diwali readings were the highest for the corresponding mornings in the four-year comparison presented in the report. Meanwhile, noise levels on Diwali ranged from 57.5 dB(A) a...