Diwali crackers set to raise pollution levels

Hyderabad: At a time when the northwest monsoon is continuing to gain momentum in the city, experts warn that it could aggravate air pollution situation in the city. To make matters worse, according to experts, aerosols — pollutants — released during the combustion of firecrackers on the eve of Diwali, linger in the air for at least a week after the festival.

A paper published in the International Journal of Information and Computing Science says that the average particulate matter (PM) 2.5  concentrations are bad enough on normal  days but on days post-Diwali have abnormally high values.

“The maximum concentration of these kinds of pollutants are on the rise. This ensures that there is higher air pollution in the air, especially pollutants like SO2, NOx, PM 10 and PM 2.5,” said Swamy Gourydevi of NIT-W, the author of the paper.

Any aerosol less than 0.5 microns in thickness would pass the cloud unabated but if the particles are around one or two microns in thickness, they would trigger the formation of the cloud, explained B. Venkateswara Rao, Professor, Water Resources, JNTU-H.

These concerns have also sent fire-cracker dealers into a panic, bereft as they are already of green diwali crackers for this season.

“While there is not much awareness about pollution, the fact that it is a violation of a Supreme Court order is irking them even more,” said Manik Rao, president, Telangana Fire Crackers Dealers' Association.

Even experts note that seasonal data suggests the presence of fine-mode aerosols under turbid atmospheres in winter and post-monsoon seasons. The reason given for the increase is the northwesterly flow of winds during the monsoon season and the rains that prevent the pollutants from rising away from human habitations. “There will be rains in the city for the next few days. However, there are winds blowing in the northwesterly direction at a speed of 15 kmph,” Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet, told this newspaper.