“Delhi’s air, already brimming with toxic pollutants ahead of Diwali, worsened with the festival fireworks, an analysis by the non-government organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) showed. CSE studied air quality data from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and found that the levels of ‘fine particles’ – particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (a millionth of a metre) across, abbreviated as PM2.5 – had increased sevenfold since October 1, 2015, unto Diwali eve on November 10, 2015. The levels spiked further in several areas in the city during Diwali, too. ‘There is a misconception that pollution due to Diwali crackers is a once-in-a-year event and so there is no need to worry about it,’ Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director for research and advocacy, told The Wire. But the analysis found that the Diwali crackers added to the pollution in a city that was “already a gas chamber” by then, according to Roychowdhury. And then its health impacts remain for the days to follow, she added.” The Wire. Read it on delhiair.org.
Diwali Was Worse this Year for Delhi Than in 2014
delhiair.org - be informed and active about air quality in New Delhi, India 