Perhaps India should go back to Diwali's basics by only lighting oil lanterns and candles instead of igniting millions of fireworks that caused air pollution during this festive holiday from Oct. 29-30 to reach record highs.

As experts predicted, pollution levels in Delhi and other major cities went through the roof like Diwali rockets.

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Delhi, as expected, was the worst hit. The most air polluted city in the nation (some say this dubious distinction belongs to Gwalior) saw its air-pollution index jump to a high 447 on the morning of Oct. 30 in a scale where a level over 401 is classified as "severe." That already bad indicator worsened to the maximum level of 500 in many parts of Delhi by evening.

Many residents reported smelling air that smelt like firecracker smoke and breathing in that air. The city government's plan to mitigate pollution by stationing air-purification devices around the city's major intersections had no positive effect at all.

The main culprits for firecracker smoke remaining stagnant over the city far longer than expected were low wind speeds, low temperatures and high levels of moisture in the air.

The danger posed by a type microscopic particulate matter called PM2.5 that's the most dangerous to human health more than doubled over the course of a few hours on Oct. 29.

By the morning of Oct. 31, government health authorities said PM2.5 levels had exceeded 30 times the World Health Organization's recommendation for average daily exposure.

The air pollution story in Patna, second in the Top 10 list of Indian cities with the country's worst air pollution, was equally dangerous.

Residents refused to heed the Bihar government's "Say No to Crackers" campaign and paid a heavy health price for this defiance.

Data released by the state government showed the ambient air quality of Patna deteriorated alarmingly on the night of Diwali. The levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 spiked to a maximum 1.4 and 3 times higher than the concentration noted from October 25 to 29 before Diwali.

The concentration of particulate matter (PM 2.5) has shot up to 6.6 times above the prescribed national ambient air quality standard and 15.8 times above World Health Organization safety limits.

TagsDiwali, air pollution, New Delhi, Patna, PM 2.5, World Health Organization, firecrackers