Residents of the Indian capital, Delhi suffered from severe smog a day after the festival of Diwali. Huge amount of fireworks in the capital resulted a mixture of smoke and fog. Reports say that the level of pollutants in the air was 30 times the recommended level by the World Health Organization in one neighborhood.
The authorities have said that the Delhi has faced a polluted Diwali due to the wind speed and humidity. Visibility on October 31, 2016 was extremely low as a thick blanket of smog covered the city. City residents had advised the citizens to stay indoors. Even the levels of tiny particulate matter that reaches deep in to the lungs had more than doubled in just a few hours on October 31, 2016 to 750 micrograms per cubic metre. The Central Pollution Control Board said that the figure was 30 times a mean guideline that was set by the World Health Organization. The US embassy in Delhi informed that the air pollution figure reached a hazardous upper limit of 500 at which it stops measuring the levels of particulate matter.
Chief scientist at India’s state run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research, Gufran Beig said, “Almost 60-70% of the smoke came from the firecrackers.” Safar warned that people in Delhi are at serious risk of respiratory problems and are also advised against physical activities. Delhi is counted as 11th most polluted city in the world.
Authorities constantly try to address the issue by applying certain measures like imposing ban on old trucks in the city and a scheme that limited private vehicle usage to alternate days. But experts have opined that such measures have hardly contributed to reduce pollution. During winter the air conditions worsen as poor people in the city burn rubbish at night to stay warm.
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