Delhi air remains polluted on Diwali as people flout SC guidelines

Delhi: Delhiites waiting for a “green” Diwali this year were disappointed when they woke up this morning in a city shrouded in a blanket of toxic haze., as people failed to honour the Supreme Court-mandated time slots for bursting firecrackers,

Every year as winters approach, we hear a lot of brouhaha over the very poor air quality of the country’s capital. The occasion gives chance to the ruling and the opposition parties to indulge in blame game, instead of sitting together to find a long-term solution to the problem.

The Delhi BJP while hailing the Supreme Court decision to allow the sale and use of green firecrackers in Delhi-NCR this Diwali, lost no time in making a joyous statement that the party stand has been vindicated, and the intentions of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government’s intentions towards Sanatan Dharma were dishonest.,as reported by media.

The Supreme Court had allowed only green crackers in the Delhi-NCR region from October 18 to 20,and only during two time slots, from 6 am to 7 am and 8 pm to 10 pm. But nobody honoured this directive as crackers went off well before and after the slots allotted.

This resulted in the air quality index (AQI) worsening to severe category. AQI stood at 451 early morning much above the national average.

The situation was no different in other cities of NCR, Noida and Gurgaon, with the AQI at 407 and 402 respectively on Tuesday morning.

The ban on firecrackers in Delhi-NCR was imposed by the SC in 2014-15 as air pollution was rising significantly.

However, This year, the apex Court permitted the sale and use of green crackers on Diwali, taking care of the interests of the industry and public health. But this did not work as the court guidelines were flouted with impunity.

It is to be noted that a day before Diwali, on October 19, the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-2) for curbing pollution were invoked for Delhi and surrounding areas as the Air Quality Index worsened. The use of diesel generator sets, coal and firewood is restricted under the plan.

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