New Delhi: The ban on the production, preservation, and sale of firecrackers in the capital city doesn’t seem to be effective, again this year! Just a day after the country celebrated the festival of lights, Diwali, the air quality index of its capital has risen drastically. With an AQI (air quality index) of 323 on Tuesday morning, a sight of thick smog was seen in most parts of Delhi. It is tagged “very poor” by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) authorities.
While in some places the AQI remained below 300, in some regions it almost touched 400. For instance, in the area near Delhi university, an AQI of 265 was recorded and near the Delhi airport, it was recorded 354. In contrast, the Lodhi road area recorded an AQI of 273 and the area near IIT Delhi recorded an AQI of 280. Not only the air quality but several parts of the capital were seen stuffed with the waste of the firecrackers burnt last night.
It was evident that the ruling of the Delhi government on the production, preservation, sale, and bursting of the firecrackers simply did not turn out to be a successful attempt to control the air pollution in the city like in past years. Although heavy fines and jail terms were imposed on people violating the rules, still the city woke up to a suffocating morning post celebrating Diwali last night. Several other measures have been taken by the Delhi government to reduce air pollution in the city which included turning off vehicles while standing at red lights.