Indians celebrated their festival of lights, Diwali, with fireworks and merriment, but a thick layer of pollution cast a pall of murky darkness over the capital, New Delhi, despite a Supreme Court order limiting the festival to more nature-friendly “green fireworks.”
Why It Matters
India’s capital, New Delhi, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the Diwali festival celebrations mark the beginning of its worst months, as cold air filled with smog lingers over the city, reducing visibility, making air pollution worse, and posing serious health risks for the more than 30 million people living in the state and its metropolitan area.
What To Know
The Hindu festival of Diwali, one of the world’s biggest festivals, symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil and is celebrated with candles, lights, and fireworks. Various countries around the world, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the United States, widely celebrate the festival, in addition to India.
This year, the Supreme Court relaxed the ban on firecrackers in the city, allowing the use of so-called green crackers, which are made to be fired with less polluting substances, for up to three hours on Sunday (October 19) and Monday (October 20). According to the authorities, only green crackers can be sold during the festival, and a QR code system has been set up to ensure compliance.
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However, the restrictions taken to control pollution did not prove very effective, as on Tuesday, the night after Diwali, New Delhi was shrouded in a blanket of smoke.
The Air Quality Index ranges from 0 to 100 as safe or fairly satisfactory, but New Delhi’s AQI reached 347 on Tuesday morning, compared to 359 at the same time last year, NDTV reported, citing the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).
This article includes reporting from Newsweek.