DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced that people in the state would be allowed to burst green firecrackers for two hours on Diwali and Gurpurab. However, a total ban has been imposed in Mandi Gobindgarh from the midnight of November 9-10 till November 30-December 1 midnight on account of its poor AQI levels. Only green crackers will be allowed as per these orders, which are in compliance with the directives of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) as well as various judicial orders passed amid reports of firecrackers likely to aggravate the COVID-19 problem. While on Diwali, green crackers can be burst from 8 pm to 10 pm, on Gurpurab, they will be allowed from 4 am to 5 am and from 9 pm to 10 pm. On Christmas eve, people can burst these crackers from 11.55 pm to 12.30 am. Chairing a virtual review meeting on COVID-19 situation, the chief minister directed the Department of Science, Technology and Environment to issue the necessary notification in this regard, an official statement said. He asked DGP Dinkar Gupta to take strict action against violators. Meanwhile, Delhi is witnessing an "unusual" condition and no quick recovery is predicted from the "severe" air pollution, a central government forecasting agency said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, said three major factors are responsible for this situation -- secondary particle formation, extremely calm local surface winds and stubble burning-related intrusion. Delhi's overall AQI is in the higher end of the 'severe' category, which is an unusual condition," it said. "Due to a high moisture content, humidity has touched a new high and the air holding capacity has increased under such cool conditions, triggering rapid secondary. (editor@dailyworld.in)