Toxic haze shrouds Delhi as people defy ban on firecrackers during Diwali

Delhi once again ranked as the world’s most polluted city a day after hundreds of thousands of people celebrated Diwali by flouting firecracker restrictions put in place by the country’s top court.

The air quality index (AQI) for Delhi showed a figure of 400+, landing India’s national capital in the “hazardous” category for bad air once again, according to Swiss group IQAir.

This happened after unseasonal heavy rain in the city brought down the AQI from the 400 mark to 160 on Friday.

Revellers began Diwali celebrations early on Sunday morning by bursting firecrackers. A thick layer of smog later enveloped New Delhi and sent the AQI shooting past 680 and even over 1,000 in some areas a little after midnight.

The burning of firecrackers was also witnessed on Monday morning.

People defied a ban on firecrackers by India’s Supreme Court – applicable for the entire country – ahead of the Hindu festival of light on Sunday night.

But, in a conflict between religious beliefs and civic order, Delhi’s residents have routinely defied such bans imposed on the sale, purchase and use of chemical firecrackers.

Authorities have also failed to oversee the strict enforcement of such bans.

Delhi was joined by two other Indian cities – Kolkata and Mumbai – in the list of top 10 polluted cities in the world on Monday, according to IQAir. Delhi had an AQI figure of 407, financial capital Mumbai came in sixth with an AQI of 157, while Kolkata in the east was seventh with an AQI of 154.

The result of the unchecked burning of firecrackers every year sends millions gasping for breath in northern India during this season.

Cold winter air traps pollutants from industrial smoke, vehicular emissions and farm fires in Delhi’s adjoining agricultural areas.

“It is obvious that the ban [on firecrackers] has been flouted with impunity because if you look at the AQI levels across various cities in India, they ranged from very poor to hazardous,” said Manish Tewari, an Indian parliament lawmaker representing the Congress party, on Monday.

“It is ironic that a country which could close down at a four-hour notice for a lockdown cannot control or implement a Supreme Court order.”

The lawmaker was referring to the contentious Covid pandemic lockdown introduced by prime minister Narendra Modi in a national broadcast in 2020, which gave people time till midnight to stock up and quarantine indoors for three weeks.

“Obviously, there was a lack of will and no enforcement,” Mr Tewari said, adding that “even in Lutyens Delhi [the city’s upscale administrative area], where you have the Supreme Court, you had firecrackers going off till two in the morning”.

“If you look at it, and it doesn’t require rocket science to figure out that hardly anywhere there was a cessation of firecrackers, be it rocket, sparklers, bombs, or any other form of firecrackers – it is an extremely serious matter,” he said.

Lawmakers from Mr Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, said legal orders on stopping polluting firecrackers to control air quality are an attack on their Hindu faith.

“The people in Delhi are already very distressed. They were not allowed the joy of firecrackers,” said Manoj Tiwari, a prominent BJP lawmaker in New Delhi.

“Kids and youth like celebrating a certain way. Very few firecrackers and green crackers were burst but Congress and other parties have a problem with people celebrating Diwali,” he said.

Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai, whose government is run by the Aam Aadmi Party that opposes the BJP, said pollution levels spiked in the city again only because of the burning of firecrackers.

“Despite the order of the Supreme Court, BJP does not want to fulfil its responsibility, it is unfortunate,” said Mr Rai on Monday.

“BJP wanted firecrackers to be burnt and the police were with BJP in all three states,” he said, referring to Delhi and the adjoining Haryana and Uttar Pradesh states. The national capital New Delhi’s law enforcement is controlled by the federal government.

Doctors have cautioned against Delhi’s annual toxic winter air. They said several of those with critical heart and lung ailments should leave the city to escape the harmful consequences of smog-filled air.

Not only are life spans being shortened but there are exponential increases in cancer cases because of Delhi’s air pollution, a doctor told The Independent recently.

South Asia has become the global hotspot for air pollution, with studies finding four of the world’s most polluted countries and nine of the 10 most polluted cities in the region.