Delhi-NCR air quality turns severe after Diwali as people defy firecracker ban

Delhi-NCR air quality turns severe after Diwali as people defy firecracker ban

Delhi-NCR air quality turns severe after Diwali as people defy firecracker ban

New Delhi : Delhi-NCR woke up to the pungent smell of smoke from firecrackers on a hazy Sunday morning as pollution levels in the region crossed the “emergency” threshold.

 

The air quality had turned "severe" on Saturday evening with stubble burning accounting for 32 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution, but firecracker emissions and calm winds made the situation even worse.

The levels of PM2.5 – which is about three per cent the diameter of a human hair and can lead to premature deaths from heart and lung diseases – were 396 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) in Delhi-NCR at 6 am, above the emergency threshold of 300 µg/m3. The safe limit is 60 µg/m3.

PM10 level stood at 543 µg/m3 at 6 am, above the emergency threshold of 500 µg/m3, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. PM10 levels below 100 µg/m3 are considered safe in India.

According to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the air quality is considered in the “severe-plus” or “emergency” category if PM2.5 and PM10 levels persist above 300 µg/m3 and 500 µg/m3 for more than 48 hours.

A large number of people burst crackers across the national capital and its suburbs on Saturday night, flouting the ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal.   Delhi Police arrested 10 people and seized 638 kg of firecrackers on Saturday.

 

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had on Monday imposed a total ban on the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from November 9 midnight to November 30 midnight, saying "celebration by crackers is for happiness and not to celebrate deaths and diseases".

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor, SAFAR, the PM2.5 concentration in Delhi on Diwali could have been the “lowest” in the last four years if there were no fireworks.

The city recorded an overall AQI of 414 at 4 pm on Saturday. It soared to 454 by 10 pm. On Sunday, it stood at 465 at 9 am.

The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (438), Ghaziabad (483), Greater Noida (439), Gurgaon (424) and Noida (466) also recorded their AQI in the severe category. 

Delhi recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 337 on Diwali last year (October 27), and 368 and 400 in the next two days. Thereafter, pollution levels remained in the “severe” category for three days on the trot.

Delhi-NCR air quality turns severe after Diwali as people defy firecracker ban

Delhi-NCR air quality turns severe after Diwali as people defy firecracker ban

 

In 2018, the 24-hour average AQI (281) on Diwali was recorded in the “poor” category. It deteriorated to 390 the next day and remained in the “severe” category on three consecutive days thereafter.

In 2017, Delhi's 24-hour average AQI on Diwali (October 19) stood at 319. It, however, slipped into the “severe” zone the next day.

This time, the India Meteorological Department has said that a fresh western disturbance is likely to increase the wind speed and improve the air quality in Delhi-NCR post-Diwali (Sunday and Monday).

Light rain is likely on Sunday under the influence of a western disturbance. The air quality is likely to improve due to an expected increase in the wind speed, Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre, said.

V K Soni, the head of the IMD's environmental research centre, said high-velocity east-southeasterly winds (gusting up to 40 kilometres per hour) are expected to disperse the pollutants.

 

There will be a significant improvement in air quality by Monday, Soni said.

The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi also said the situation is likely to “improve significantly” on Sunday.  “Under the influence of a Western Disturbance, isolated rainfall over plains of northwest India and adjoining central India is likely on Sunday. Generally, cloudy sky, light rain, thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds (speed 30-40 kmph) is likely towards afternoon-evening on Sunday,” the central agency said.

Firecrackers heard across NCR on Diwali night despite ban    

Bursting of firecrackers could be heard across Delhi and its neighbouring areas on Diwali night even though a ban was imposed on its sale and use in the national capital region in view of rising air pollution and COVID-19 pandemic.

Some people in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad burst firecrackers to mark Diwali on Saturday, defying the ban on their sale and use in the National Capital Region (NCR) imposed due to rising air pollution.

 

Sparklers were seen lighting up the night sky while crackers went off on the ground in various areas.

On Diwali night firecrackers could be seen going off in various residential colonies of the national capital from around 8 pm.

A doctor in Kailash Hills area said, "Everyone was posting images of clear blue skies during the COVID-19 lockdown. Now, we all can see how bad the pollution is. Bursting of cracker will make things worse." "The Delhi government has banned it, but you can see what is happening," he said.

The Delhi Police, however, said that it has deployed personnel in many parts of the city and action will be taken against those violating the ban.

"We have deployed adequate police personnel to check illegal sale and bursting of fire crackers. Today also, personnel have been deployed and action will be taken against the offenders," a senior police officer said.

 

In south Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area, a lot of crackers could be heard going off.

Chitra, a resident, said, "Amid the pandemic and pollution, this Diwali is different. We usually avoid bursting firecrackers for this reason. For us, Diwali is about spending quality time with family at home and exchange sweets with neigbhours and light earthen lamps." Jyothi, another resident of Lajpat Nagar, said it was first difficult to explain children about the ban.

"But we told them that if we don't burst crackers this Diwali, then God will save us from the virus and they will get to play with their friends just like before. You need to find ways to convince children. 

"They don't understand otherwise. But hearing others burst firecrackers, they did ask us but again we convinced them again," she said.

However, Shailesh Kumar, a resident of Patparganj, said no one in his residential society burst crackers this time.

 

In Laxminagar, Kavish Chaudhary, a resident, said last year, he burst crackers along with friends but this time he was avoiding it due to the coronavirus.

In Delhi's neighbouring Noida, Pawan Kumar said he could hear a lot of firecrackers.

"People burst crackers despite the fact that there was a ban. There should have been strict measures to enforce the ban at ground level," he said.

Nitish Tyagi, a resident of Ghaziabad's Sihani area, to had a similar experience. 

Earlier in the day, Delhi Police arrested 10 people and registered 12 cases for alleged sale of firecrackers in the national capital, officials said.

 

"Of the 12 cases, one was registered in northeast district, four in southeast, two in outer-north, one in outer, three in Dwarka and one in southwest," Additional PRO (Delhi Police) Anil Mittal said. PTI