India Diwali 2024: Smoke from fireworks pushes air pollution in Delhi to dangerous levels

NEW DELHI (AP) — A thick layer of toxic smog blanketed India’s capital on Friday smoke from fireworks used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, brought air pollution to dangerous levels.

According to SAFAR, India’s top environmental monitoring agency, New Delhi’s air quality index was in the ‘severe’ category. In many areas, levels of deadly particles reached seven times the World Health Organization’s safety limit.

Authorities in the capital have banned the use and sale of traditional firecrackers since 2017 and asked people to opt for eco-friendly firecrackers or light shows instead, but this rule is often broken.

New Delhi, home to more than 33 million people, is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world.

The air pollution crisis worsens especially in winter, when the burning of crop residues in neighboring countries coincides with lower temperatures that trap deadly smoke. That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to an increase in pollution and worsening the public health crisis.

Emissions from industries without pollution controls and the use of coal, which produces most of the country’s electricity, are also linked to poor air quality in urban areas.

“We may not realize it now, but later we will have to deal with lung problems,” said Manoj Kumar, a New Delhi resident doing his morning rounds around the capital’s iconic India Gate monument.

Several studies estimate that more than a million Indians die every year from air pollution-related diseases. Small particles in polluted air can lodge deep in the lungs and cause a variety of major health problems.