Delhi’s air quality is worsening daily and took a sharp dive on Tuesday, just a day after the city celebrated Diwali. The city woke up to thick smog, with several areas recording the Air Quality Index in the 'severe' category, sparking big pollution concerns, and a discussion on what may have led to the development.
It is not rare for the national capital to witness a plunge in air quality this time of the year. With the bursting of firecrackers beyond the timeline mandated by the Supreme Court, and stubble burning concerns in Punjab, a lot of factors are involved.
However, no one seems to be ready to take blame for the pollution woes in the national capital. While the Opposition in Delhi blames the state government, the BJP blames the Punjab government for failing to limit stubble burning.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Tuesday blamed the AAP-led Punjab government for failing to curb stubble burning in Punjab. “Unless Arvind Kejriwal–ruled Punjab stops burning stubble, Delhi and NCR will continue to choke. Stop blaming Deepawali for the sins of the Aam Aadmi Party — it’s their smoke, not the festival’s lamps or firecrackers, that darkens Delhi’s skies,” Amit Malviya posted on X.
While he blamed the stubble burning in Punjab as a big contributor to Delhi's pollution rise, Delhi Minister Ashish Sood held people responsible for it. The BJP leader said people should have burst crackers in Delhi-NCR according to the Supreme Court’s guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}While he blamed the stubble burning in Punjab as a big contributor to Delhi's pollution rise, Delhi Minister Ashish Sood held people responsible for it. The BJP leader said people should have burst crackers in Delhi-NCR according to the Supreme Court’s guidelines.
{{/usCountry}}Days before Diwali, the Supreme Court had allowed the sale and use of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR from October 18 to 21, clearly specifying that they can only be burst between 6 and 7 pm and and 8 and 10 pm on the said days.
However, people flouted this restriction and burst crackers well beyond the mandated time frame. This reportedly contributed to pushing hourly PM 2.5 levels in Delhi to around 29 times the permissible standards.
"Only firecrackers are not responsible for pollution in Delhi. However, I believe people should have followed the SC's order to burst crackers before 10 PM. Delhi has no weather of its own; many factors determine the weather and pollution levels here, and adjacent states also have a role to play," Sood was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Opposition in Delhi on the other hand accused the state government of failing to control pollution following Diwali celebrations and questioned why the artificial rain plan wasn't carried out. "The government lies. The government said that after Diwali, we would fix all the pollution by conducting artificial rain. Did artificial rain happen? No, my question is that if you could have conducted artificial rain, then why didn't you do it? Do you (the government) want people to fall ill. The government has a collusion with private hospitals," AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj was quoted as saying by ANI.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra seemed to take a dig at the Supreme Court as she commented on the pollution rise in Delhi. In a tweet, Moitra wrote: "Guess Punjab farmers didn’t sleep on Sunday night - they burnt stubble to choke Delhi. Meanwhile 90% of crackers sold were normal stamped with fake green label since no differentiation mechanism exists. AQI?IQ? Test basis? Supreme Court Zindabad."
Delhi's air quality alarmingly plunged one day after Diwali with the overall AQI standing at 350, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. While the overall AQI was in the 'very poor' category this morning, some parts like Bawana, Jahangirpuri and Alipur saw 'severe' air quality with the readings passing 401.