AQI-Safe Diwali Planner
Enter your city's air quality and get a sensible, lower-emission cracker plan for Diwali. Practical guidance for high-AQI days — no prices.
Last verified: 2026
Short answer:
- CPCB rates air quality on a six-band scale from Good (0–50) to Severe (401–500+); check today's reading before you decide how much and what to burst.
- Below Moderate (200), a normal Diwali night is fine for most households. From Poor (201) upward, cut aerial and heavy-smoke items first and keep the session short.
- At Very Poor (301+) or Severe (401+), the National Green Tribunal's own restriction applies: only certified green crackers, and only within your state's fixed bursting hours.
- Green certification cuts particulate emissions by a CSIR-NEERI-rated ~30% per item — it does not lower the neighbourhood AQI reading or make a cracker quieter.
How to use it
Pull today's AQI for your city from CPCB's National Air Quality Index site or app, then match the number to the band below. The widget above does this lookup automatically and adds a same-night reminder; the table works exactly the same way with no JavaScript, and it's the version worth bookmarking for Diwali night itself when signal or app access can be patchy.
Today's AQI band, what to do
| CPCB band (AQI) | Associated health impact | What to do this Diwali |
|---|---|---|
| Good (0–50) | Minimal impact | Burst as planned; a normal mixed session (sparklers, ground, aerial) is fine within your state's legal hours. |
| Satisfactory (51–100) | Minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people | Same as Good, but keep young kids and anyone with asthma a little further back from ground and aerial items. |
| Moderate (101–200) | Breathing discomfort to people with lung disease, asthma or heart conditions | Fine for most; sensitive household members should watch from a distance or step indoors during the loudest 20–30 minutes. |
| Poor (201–300) | Breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure | Trim the aerial and high-smoke items first, keep the whole session shorter, and move sensitive family members indoors with windows shut. |
| Very Poor (301–400) | Respiratory illness on prolonged exposure | NGT's use-restriction applies: green-certified crackers only, inside your state's fixed window. Skip repeaters and multi-shot aerials; they add the most particulate load per minute. |
| Severe (401–500+) | Affects healthy people; serious impact on vulnerable groups | Same green-only, fixed-hours restriction, kept as short as the household can manage. Elderly, children under 5, and anyone with respiratory or heart conditions are safest indoors with windows shut for the burst window. |
Bands and health-impact wording follow CPCB's published National AQI categories. The NGT's green-crackers-only restriction in "poor or below" cities comes from its 9 November and 1 December 2020 orders (O.A. 249/2020) — full detail in our firecracker laws guide.
Green crackers don't move the AQI number
Switching to certified green items lowers what that specific cracker adds to the air, not the AQI reading itself, which is a neighbourhood-wide average driven mostly by wind speed, temperature inversion and how many households nearby are also bursting. Delhi's own Diwali data shows why the band matters more than any single household's choices: CPCB readings have put the city at Very Poor or Severe on nine of the last ten Diwalis — see the full year-by-year numbers on Diwali air quality: 10-year city comparison. If air quality rather than noise is your main concern, browse certified green crackers for the sparkler, flower-pot and sound-cracker options that carry the CSIR-NEERI mark.
Frequently Asked Questions
What AQI counts as "safe" to burst crackers on Diwali?
CPCB doesn't publish a single cutoff for bursting crackers; the NGT's legal line is Moderate (200) — cities at Poor or below may burst green crackers only, inside fixed hours. Below that line, a normal session carries minimal to minor health impact per CPCB's own category descriptions.
Do green crackers lower the AQI reading where I live?
No. Green certification cuts what one cracker adds to the air by a CSIR-NEERI-rated ~30% against a conventional equivalent, but the AQI number reflects everyone's combined bursting plus weather, so it can still land in Very Poor or Severe even in a neighbourhood that's gone green-only.
Where do I check today's live AQI before deciding?
CPCB's own National Air Quality Index site and app cover most Indian cities with hourly readings; check it on the afternoon of Diwali since the number can shift meaningfully by evening.
What if my city is Severe on Diwali night itself?
Keep to the state's legal bursting window, use only certified green items, and move anyone elderly, very young, or with a respiratory or heart condition indoors with windows shut for that stretch. See our safety guide for the state-by-state rules behind the green-only restriction.
Back to all tools.
Written by the buyonlinecrackers.com editorial team, using CPCB's published National AQI category and health-impact table, NGT orders O.A. 249/2020, and CSIR-NEERI's certified-formulation figures.
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