Despite a blanket ban on fireworks in the national
capital owing to runaway pollution and worsening air quality, revellers across
the city engaged in bursting firecrackers with abandon on Diwali night.
Visuals from Lodhi Road and Punjabi Bagh showed
fireworks lighting up the night sky across many areas in the national capital. People
in Nangloi were also spotted lighting firecrackers amid the festivities.
Earlier, in a bid to rein in the city’s rising
pollution graph and prevent the air quality from worsening further, the Arvind
Kejriwal-led AAP government had imposed a complete ban on firecrackers, an
official release from the Government of NCT of Delhi stated.
“Pollution rises significantly during winters in
Delhi; instructions are given to impose a complete ban on the manufacture,
storage, sale, and bursting of firecrackers,” Environment Minister Gopal Rai
was quoted as saying in a press release.
Earlier, on Friday, the Delhi Government announced the
‘Diya Jalao, Patakhe Nahi’ campaign in the city amid concerns of the pollution
numbers spiking after the Festival of Lights.
The announcement came after the Supreme Court, earlier
in the day, directed the Delhi government to arrive at a definitive decision on
the implementation of the ‘Odd-Even’ vehicle rationing scheme. The court,
however, refrained from taking a decision itself, as it left the matter in the
hands of the Delhi government.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather
Forecasting and Research (SAFAR-India), the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of
the national capital, at 9.18 pm on Diwali night, was recorded at 197 ‘moderate’.
There was a slight improvement in the city’s air
quality on Saturday following the rainfall on Friday.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai, earlier on Sunday,
urged everyone not to burst firecrackers and it would exacerbate the woes of
the people, who are already struggling to breathe clean air in the city.
The minister urged the people to celebrate the
festival by lighting earthen lamps (diyas) instead.
“I urge people in Delhi and nearby areas to celebrate
Diwali by lighting diyas. They should refrain from bursting crackers as it
would further inconvenience people, who are already struggling to breathe clean
air. This festival is about spreading happiness and adding to the worries,” Rai
told ANI.
The air quality in the national capital slipped to
alarming levels as smoke from crop residue burning in neighbouring States –
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana – resulted in a thick blanket of smog or
toxic air descending over the city.
In Noida, the AQI on Sunday stood at 200, while in
Gurugram, the same was recorded at 142.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, which, too, has seen the air
quality dropping to alarming levels this year, people were spotted bursting
firecrackers on Diwali night.
Visuals from Shivaji Park showed revellers in large
numbers lighting up crackers.
In the wake of the worsening air quality in the city,
the Mumbai High Court permitted the busting of firecrackers only for 3 hours in
the country’s commercial capital – between 7 pm and 10 pm.
The Bombay HC on Monday passed interim directions to
the Maharashtra Government and municipal authorities in Mumbai and surrounding
areas to mobilise urgent steps to mitigate worsening air pollution.
ANI
