The police have also arrested 4 shopkeepers.
The apex court had ordered that Delhiites can burst crackers only between 8pm and 10 pm on the day of Diwali, in order to keep a control on the air pollution; but people started bursting crackers soon after sunset around 6 p.m. and continued well after 10 p.m.
Also, the apex court had banned the sale of traditional crackers and allowed only "green crackers" in Delhi-NCR, but there was no clarity as to how many people could procure these, or the ones not containing the polluting barium salts.
Thick haze engulfed the national capital Wednesday night with the air quality deteriorating to the "very poor" category as Delhiites continued to burst firecrackers long after the deadline set by the Supreme Court, the authorities said.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 302 at 11 pm, which fell in the very poor category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The air quality started deteriorating rapidly from 7 pm. The AQI was 281 at 7 pm. It rose to 291 at 8 pm and further deteriorated to 294 at 9 pm and 296 at 10 pm, according to the CPCB.