New Delhi, Nov. 7 -- The Supreme Court's firecracker restrictions appeared to have little impact on the ground in Delhi-NCR, with violations reported across the Capital even as the city's air quality deteriorated ahead of Diwali.
The court had permitted the sale of only certified green crackers at designated locations between November 4 and 6. Their use was restricted to two hours each in the morning (6 am to 7 am) and evening (8 pm to 10 pm) on November 7 and 8, with a blanket ban set to return from November 9.
However, fireworks were being sold openly by unlicensed vendors in Old Delhi markets, while several neighbourhoods echoed with explosions on Friday, a day before the permitted bursting window began.
Meanwhile, Delhi's air quality remained in the 'very poor' category on Saturday, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 369 as a thick layer of smog enveloped the city on the eve of Diwali and reduced visibility.
The situation is expected to worsen on Sunday, with the air quality likely to slip into the 'severe' category as Diwali celebrations, vehicular emissions and the peak stubble-burning season add to the pollution burden.
Of the 59 monitoring stations that recorded data on Saturday, 16 reported 'severe' air quality, while 29 fell in the 'very poor' category. The worst reading was recorded near IIT Delhi, where the AQI touched 452.
According to the Air Quality Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, the air quality is likely to remain in the 'severe' category on November 8 and 9. It is expected to fluctuate between the 'severe' and 'very poor' categories over the following six days.
The city's average AQI remained close to the severe threshold of 400, with several monitoring stations already recording readings above it.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) classifies an AQI of 0-50 as 'good', 51-100 as 'satisfactory', 101-200 as 'moderate', 201-300 as 'poor', 301-400 as 'very poor' and 401-500 as 'severe'.
Weather and air quality experts attributed the anticipated deterioration to unfavourable meteorological conditions, Diwali-related celebrations, vehicular emissions and the peak period of stubble burning in neighbouring states. Poor ventilation is also hampering the dispersion of pollutants. According to the EWS, a ventilation index below 6,000 square metres per second, along with an average wind speed of less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for the effective dispersal of pollutants.
PM10 was the predominant pollutant in the national capital on Saturday.
According to the Decision Support System (DSS) for Delhi, the transport sector was the biggest contributor to the city's pollution, accounting for 21.4 per cent on Saturday. Stubble burning contributed 1.7 per cent, a figure projected to rise to 5.4 per cent on Sunday.
Satellite data recorded 589 farm-fire incidents across six states on Friday. Punjab accounted for 357 incidents, followed by Madhya Pradesh (139), Rajasthan (58), Uttar Pradesh (23), Haryana (nine) and Uttarakhand (three).
Between September 15 and November 6, a total of 6,226 farm-fire incidents were detected across these six states.
The data was released by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in its bulletin.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.