New Delhi: Despite several attempts made to curb the menace of air pollution, a layer of haze enveloped the national capital a day after Diwali as the city’s air quality plummeted on Monday to the “severe” category for the first time this season, with a large number of revellers brazenly flouting the Supreme Court-enforced two-hour limit for bursting crackers.
However, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that the air pollution level in the city on Diwali night was the “lowest” in the past five years as there was relatively less bursting of firecrackers.
His remarks came even as the city’s air quality dropped to the season’s worst on the morning after Diwali, but government agencies said the situation was still better than previous years.
Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said on Monday that the government has received masks and would distribute these in a few days.
“After 8.30 pm on Sunday, I could hear some sound of crackers bursting. I was very happy that compared to the last few years, there was much less bursting of crackers. The pollution figures have revealed that pollution has been the lowest in the last five years on Diwali night,” he said.
“Our aim is to eliminate pollution from Delhi,” he added. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee on Monday said less fireworks, rigorous night patrolling and enforcement measures to curb instigators reduced the PM2.5 and PM10 levels by 30 per cent on Diwali night this year, in comparison to 2018.
The decline in emissions of dangerous PM10 and PM2.5 particles across Delhi ranged from 20 to 50 per cent, indicating that the air quality was better than in previous years, the DPCC said in a statement.
