Delhi flouts Diwali cracker ban, wakes up to hazardous AQI

NEW DELHI: As Delhi witnessed a dip in the Air Quality Index on Sunday, the national capital’s air turned hazardous once again as Delhiites flouted the cracker ban on Diwali night.

The air turned heavy as a thick blanket of smog engulfed the national capital on Monday, turning the air hazardous and reducing visibility. The AQI that stood at 202 at 7 AM on Sunday, which is also considered the best AQI in the last three weeks, was near Delhi’s Anand Vihar, where it witnessed the highest at 969 at 5 AM as per aqicn.org.

Environmental expert Kavita Ashok, while speaking with The New Indian, emphasised, “Citizens have a great role to play. Let’s all participate. We have to abide by the government rules that have come into force. We have to ensure the safety and security of our own families, our own children, and our parents. It’s crucial.”

However, on the ground, the laws and bans seem to have been violated completely.

A South Delhi resident, Ganesh Chandra, 68, said, “Delhi is grappling with bad air. My family has two elderly people (my wife and me) and one toddler (my son’s daughter), and we had no other choice but to buy an air purifier.”

A Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease patient for the last eight years, Anil Desai, 60, and a resident of West Delhi, told The New Indian, “The AQI improved following the rain, but look at the condition today. The air we breathe is detrimental for any COPD patient or, in that sense, for anybody. I do not know what to do. I have stopped morning walks completely. I hardly go out these days. I have to endure this condition for another three months.”

The Supreme Court, in its order, noted that concerned states such as Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh, are the major contributors to air pollution and steadfastly directed the states to stop stubble burning on November 8.

With Delhi’s pollution breaching every hazardous record, which has a direct correlation with people’s deteriorating health conditions, Delhi opened a pollution Outpatient Department.

Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital introduced a weekly ‘pollution’ OPD dedicated to helping patients with severe air quality-related health problems. The Delhi government had invoked a complete firecracker ban following the alarming AQI in Delhi and NCR.

Several high-level meetings were held in the Union Environment Ministry’s CAQM as well as the Delhi government to tackle stubble burning, vehicular pollution, and other issues.”