As India’s capital finished its Diwali celebrations on Monday, the city slipped into the ‘red zone’ as air quality took a sharp hit on Tuesday morning. The majority of stations recorded a sharp shoot in AQI as people continued to burn firecrackers.
As per the advisory of the Supreme Court of India, residents in the NCR region are allowed to burn green crackers between 8 pm to 10 pm, but celebrations continued beyond the allotted hours, leading to the worsening air quality. According to data, 36 out of the 38 stations showed air quality either in the ‘severe’ or ‘very poor’ category across the city.
As morning haze covered the Akshardham temple, Stage-II GRAP measures were put into effect in the Delhi-NCR region. The SAMEER app of the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB) showed Dwarka, Ashok Vihar, Wazirpur, and Anand Vihar as places with the worst air quality. The average AQI of the city itself was in the ‘very poor’ category at 345 on Tuesday, from 326, as recorded at 4 pm on Sunday.
Looking at the trend that follows every year, authorities have warned that the AQI will decrease further to the ‘severe’ category by Wednesday. Data from the Decision Support System shows the different sectors contributing to the pollution, 15.6 per cent of emissions were contributed by the Transport sector, and other sources, including industries, contributed 23.3 per cent.
Delhi’s pollution level changes drastically during October and November owing to several reasons, firecrackers being one of them. The season causes several problems and has contributed to Delhi’s unpopularity on pollution charts across the world. It remains the most polluted capital, despite efforts by the state and central government.
