All the efforts to curb pollution couldn't do much to maintain the air quality during Diwali. Despite a Supreme Court order restricting bursting of crackers to a limited time period and the police making the occasional arrests, there seemed to be no improvement in the air quality of the city. It was 'poor' even on the eve of Diwali.

The Air Quality Index registered was 213 on Tuesday, which puts it in the poor quality. What is interesting is that the period from 12 am to 1 am saw the city's air quality get extremely severe.

The quality is termed 'severe' when the AQI is between 400 to 500. On Tuesday, the air quality of Ahmedabad between 12 am and 1 am was 425 and 419, respectively.

Explaining why the air quality continues to be poor particularly in the early morning, environment activist Mahesh Pandya said that the dip in temperature in the wee hours of the day prevents dispersion of pollutants, worsening the air quality further.

Pandya said police efforts to nab those who are flouting the deadline for bursting crackers will not help in the efforts to bring down the pollution levels.

"When the Supreme Court had asked for the bursting fire crackers to be restricted to a limited time period, what the state and civic body should have done was ensure that there's community bursting of firecrackers. They could have provided the space for the same. In the absence of it, people will continue to burst crackers outside their homes. How will the cops be able to keep track of it all," said Pandya.

He said, in most countries, a designated space is provided to burn crackers. "Had we done that, we could have slowly helped develop a culture where people wouldn't burn crackers at home. This could also aid in bringing down the number of people bursting crackers, further helping in improve the air quality," said Pandya.

• 213 The Air Quality Index registered on Tuesday, which puts it in the ‘poor category’.  
• 12 am - 1 am City’s air quality was ‘severe’, with the AQI ranging between 400 to 500.   
• 12 am - 1 am On Tuesday, the air quality of Ahmedabad between 12 am and 1 am was 425 and 419.