New Delhi: Air quality slipped to the ‘very poor’ category Tuesday in Delhi, a day after the city celebrated Diwali with fervour and gaiety.
Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) at 7 a.m. was 350, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. While the AQI remained in the ‘very poor’ zone in most pockets, it shot up to ‘severe’ levels in several neighbourhoods.
In Jahangirpuri, the AQI was 407, Bawana 423, and Wazirpur 408.
The air quality of a region is categorised into six parts in the CPCB scale. When the AQI is between 0 and 50, it is considered ‘good’. It is considered ‘satisfactory’ when the reading ranges between 51 and 100, ‘moderate’ between 101 and 200. The latter part of the CPCB scale categorises an AQI of 201 to 300 as ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 as ‘very poor’ and between 401 and 500 as ‘severe’.
Environmental experts said that the spike in Delhi’s pollution levels was primarily because of the large-scale cracker bursting leading up to and on the day of Diwali. On 15 October, the Supreme Court allowed bursting green crackers with caveats.
India’s apex court said that only green crackers—considered to produce around 30 percent less pollution compared to traditional crackers—will be allowed in the national capital between 20 and 21 October.
“The district administration and the police shall ensure that use of firecrackers shall be confined to 6-7 a.m. and 8-10 p.m. on the two days i.e., the one before and on the Diwali day,” the court said.
This was the first time the sale and limited use of firecrackers was permitted in Delhi after they were banned in 2020 due to ill-effects on health and the environment.
“When you allow cracker-bursting in a polluted city like Delhi, how do you ensure that the caveats are respected? The crackers kept going off well after the 10 p.m. deadline, and we could all see how hazy and dangerous the pollution levels got,” Delhi-based environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari said.
Slide ahead of Diwali
The CPCB data shows that the air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) started slipping a week leading up to Diwali. After a spell of delayed monsoon, the winds calmed in the region, leading to the accumulation of pollutants.
Curiously, unlike the last few years, the contribution of stubble fires in Punjab and Haryana to Delhi’s poor air has been negligible. This asserted the contribution of firecrackers and unfavourable weather conditions to the annual Diwali pollution spike.
“The stubble fires in Punjab and Haryana have dropped sharply in the week leading to Diwali. But we have recorded stubble pollution coming in from the Pakistan side,” Ravindra Khaiwal, professor of environmental health at Chandigarh’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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