New Delhi, Nov. 9 -- "In nature, nothing exists alone."
- Rachel Carson
Delhi woke up on Monday to ask how badly it had poisoned itself. The answer depended on the monitor. The official Central Pollution Control Board reading was 366 at 6.15 am and 368 at 7 am, placing the Capital in the 'Very Poor' category. Private platforms reported higher overnight peaks: One cited 1,331, while another reported 1,713 at 2 am. These figures use different scales; the official Indian AQI is capped at 500. But particulate matter readings were alarming. North Campus recorded 999 micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5; ITO reached 994. The readings then went blank just as particulate concentrations were approaching their highest levels.
The smoke had a soundtrack. It began on November 7, the evening before Diwali, and continued on November 8. Across Delhi and North India, the night sky became a firing range. The scale of fireworks across neighbourhoods made a mockery of the Supreme Court's limited relaxation. By Monday morning, the haze had returned, thicker, more acrid and difficult to breathe through. Smokehouse Blues.
Mistaken Concession
The Supreme Court had not authorised an unrestricted fireworks festival. It permitted certified green crackers only, between 6 am and 7 am and 8 pm and 10 pm on November 7 and 8. Fireworks were prohibited within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old-age homes, schools and notified silence zones. Conventional and unapproved crackers, barium-based products and long chains or 'ladis' were barred. The complete ban was to return from November 9.
This was a narrow concession, not permission to give the Capital's air another chemical pounding. Or the order was understood and still disregarded. No court can police every balcony, lane and terrace. A society that needs a judge to tell it not to poison its neighbours has a problem deeper than enforcement.
Delhi deserves particular scrutiny: it is the National Capital, its pollution becomes a health emergency every winter and residents know what follows. But this is not a Delhi-only failing. The same disregard stretches across the NCR and North India. We cannot demand clean air and then treat two permitted evenings as an invitation to make as much smoke and noise as possible.
No Single Culprit
Firecrackers did not create this crisis. They added a sudden, avoidable burst of toxic emissions to air already dangerously polluted. Delhi's average AQI was 376 on November 8, against 369 the previous day. Vehicles, road and construction dust, industry, waste burning and power generation all contribute. Crop-residue fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh add to the seasonal burden, with their impact varying according to wind and weather.
Winter then closes the lid. Cooler nights, weak winds and temperature inversions prevent pollutants dispersing, trapping them close to the ground. Pollution often rises after sunset and overnight, easing as daytime temperatures rise and the air begins to mix. When dispersion is poor, every additional emission has a more dangerous impact.
The monitoring data showed how quickly the situation worsened as celebrations gathered pace. Across 39 stations reporting comparable PM2.5 data, the average rose from 190 micrograms per cubic metre in the 15-minute period beginning 7.45 pm to 259 in the period beginning 8 pm on Diwali.
Those Who Breathe It
For an asthma patient, a child, an older person or someone with a respiratory or cardiac condition, this is not an argument about AQI categories. It is the air entering their lungs. Former AIIMS director Randeep Guleria warned that respiratory OPD and emergency visits could rise by 20-30 per cent in the days after the pollution spike. Even healthy people can experience coughing, chest tightness and breathing difficulty. The vulnerable pay first, and pay most.
Explosions that delight some people terrify dogs, cats, birds and other animals. Communities reported frightened pets bolting, strays hiding and animals getting disoriented. Missing-pet notices reminded us that one creature's celebration can become another's ordeal.
What have we celebrated? A few flashes, lots of noise and toxic residue that we must inhale for days. The SC's temporary relaxation has ended; the ban is back. But the damage does not disappear with the last burst of fireworks. Nor does the smoke vanish because the calendar has moved on.
Governments have their duty: enforcing restrictions, tackling stubble burning, cleaning up transport and construction, preparing for the grim winter pollution that occurs each year. But citizens cannot demand action from authorities while making the problem worse themselves. No court order, police deployment or pollution-control plan can compensate for a public unwilling to exercise restraint.
The scandal is not that Delhi and North India have another polluted winter ahead. It is that, despite knowing what pollution does, we have still found reasons to add to it. A celebration that leaves children struggling to breathe, the elderly confined indoors and animals fleeing in terror is not an assertion of tradition. It is an indulgence whose costs are imposed on everyone. Diwali is meant to illuminate the night. We should be ashamed of what we have made of it.
Views expressed are personal. The writer is a journalist & communications specialist
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.