Delhi wakes up to a poisonous firecracker haze after Diwali.
By mid-morning, the PM 2.5 level had decreased to about 145, which is still close to 10 times the WHO limit.
NEW DELHI: After Diwali revellers disobeyed a firecracker ban and risked arrest to celebrate the yearly Hindu festival, New Delhi awoke to deadly haze on Tuesday.
The air quality index value for dangerous PM 2.5 particles increased to 350, more than three times the reading from the previous day, according to international monitoring company IQAir.
The reading for the particles is more than 23 times the daily level advised by the World Health Organization since they are so small they can enter the bloodstream and travel deep into the lungs.
By mid-morning, the PM 2.5 level had decreased to about 145, which is still more than 10 times the WHO limit.
22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities, according to an IQAir report from 2020, were located in India.
Last month, New Delhi banned the sale and usage of firecrackers and warned anybody who disobeyed the order may spend up to six months in jail.
Around 20 million people lived in the Indian capital, and many of them were still able to obtain firecrackers, lighting them on fire until early in the morning.
The pollution levels in Delhi were, however, the lowest in four years following Monday’s Diwali celebrations, according to broadcaster NDTV. This year’s festival took place in mild weather and relatively early.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, claimed that locals were “working hard” and that there had been positive outcomes.
He wrote in a tweet early on Tuesday, “But there is still a long way to go.
Diwali is observed about the same time as farmers in nearby states burn harvest-related stubble.
In the winter, agricultural fires, vehicle emissions, industrial pollutants, and firecracker smoke come together to create a poisonous cocktail that is thought to be the cause of a significant number of preventable deaths.
According to a Lancet report published in 2020, air pollution caused over 17,500 fatalities in Delhi in 2019.
According to a June study by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, if levels of fine particulate matter reached WHO limits, the average individual would live five years longer throughout South Asia.
