- Every year, government authorities or the Supreme Court of India ban the setting of firecrackers, but these bans seem to be rarely enforced.
- After the Diwali celebrations, residents of New Delhi woke up in toxic smoke, breathing the most polluted air so far this year.
- In India, toxic air causes more than one million deaths every year.
On the morning after Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, residents of New Delhi woke up under toxic smoke, breathing the most polluted air so far this year, and revellers ignored the fireworks ban as usual.
The air quality in New Delhi is the worst of all capitals in the world, but even by regrettable standards, reading on Friday is particularly bad because people pay for celebrating India’s biggest festival in the loudest and most smoky way. cost.
According to the guidance of the Federal Pollution Control Commission, the Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to 451 within a range of 500-this year’s highest record-indicating a “serious” condition that affects healthy people and severely affects people with existing diseases.
AQI measures the concentration of toxic particulate matter PM2.5 per cubic meter of air. In Delhi, a city with a population of nearly 20 million, Friday’s PM2.5 readings averaged 706 micrograms, and the World Health Organization considers any annual average higher than 5 micrograms to be unsafe.
PM2.5 in the air can cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, such as lung cancer. Moreover, in India, toxic air causes more than 1 million deaths every year.
Sunil Dahiya, an analyst at the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA), said:
The firecracker ban seems to be unsuccessful in Delhi, which has caused dangerous pollution levels to increase the existing perennial sources.
Every year, government authorities or the Supreme Court of India prohibit the setting of firecrackers. But these bans seem to be rarely enforced.
To make matters worse, Diwali coincides with farmers in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana in Delhi burning the stubble left over from the harvest in preparation for the next harvest.
According to data from the SAFAR monitoring system under the Federal Ministry of Earth Sciences, residual fires account for up to 35% of New Delhi’s PM2.5 levels
Due to the intermittent rain and wind, the rare clear sky in October helped the people of Delhi breathe the cleanest air in at least four years.
But in winter, pollution levels in northern India will surge, because lower temperatures and lower wind speeds tend to keep pollutants in the air for longer.
Ambrish Mithal, a doctor at Max HealthCare Hospital in New Delhi, tired of the lack of promises to make the capital more livable, expressed dissatisfaction with the deteriorating AQI readings.
“This is terrible for people with allergies and asthma. We will continue to argue over reasons and are doomed to suffer,” he wrote on Twitter.
The Indian government is often accused of not doing enough to curb pollution because they prioritize economic growth to improve the living standards of the world’s second most populous country.
On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Narendra Modi) stated at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070, but some experts believe that the target is at least 20 late. year.
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