Did public social messaging on pollution and the ban on firecrackers help?
Rain and then strong winds last week contributed to Delhi waking up to its cleanest Diwali day in eight years since the AQI data became available. NCR region and its AQI levels Hard numbers Mukesh Khare, professor at IIT Delhi and former expert member in both the Commission for Air Quality Management and the now dissolved Environment Pollution Control Authority said bursting of firecrackers at such a large scale — a clear violation of both the Delhi government and Supreme Court’s orders — has negated the air quality gains Delhi saw on Saturday. Till 6 pm on Diwali day, Delhi’s average hourly PM 2.5 concentration was within the permissible national standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, but pollution levels began to spike from 7 pm onwards as firecracker emissions were released into the atmosphere. This led to a gradual spike in Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration, which touched a peak of 570 micrograms per cubic metre at 1 am – nearly 10 times the safe limit, CPCB data showed. Delhi’s hourly average PM 2.5 concentration at 10 am was 304 micrograms per cubic metre – still five times over the permissible standards.
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