India's capital Awakens to Dangerous Pollution After Festival of Lights
As Tuesday dawned inhabitants of the world's most polluted city were faced with exposed to extremely polluted air that was classified as the "alarming" range.
Record-Breaking Pollution Levels
Multiple areas of the city registered an AQI above 500, which equals a tenfold increase over the recommended level established by the WHO.
Certain monitoring stations, concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 hit highs of 1800, representing 15-20x higher than healthy limits.
Firecracker Prohibition and New Changes
For the past four years, officials had implemented a total prohibition on the purchase and ignition of firecrackers during the Festival of Lights due to their major role to the deadly haze that engulfs the capital as the cold season approaches.
Nevertheless in recent months, the recently formed city leadership approached the highest court to propose a modification of the restrictions.
They proposed allowing "eco-friendly fireworks" – previously doubted by conservation groups as being only approximately one-third less polluting – as a balance between "heritage and ecological concerns".
Judicial Verdict and Enforcement
Much to the frustration of environmental and health advocates, judges complied with the proposal, stipulating that eco-friendly pyrotechnics could be set off during limited time windows throughout the celebrations.
On Monday night, there was considerable violation of the time restrictions across the metropolis, with minimal regulation regarding whether the pyrotechnics being used were actually the eco-friendly type.
Several monitoring devices throughout the city recorded pollution spiking around late evening to extremely hazardous readings seen during Diwali in at least the past three years.
International Effects
Extensive ignition of firecrackers during the festival also triggered a dispute with bordering Pakistan, with authorities in Pakistan's Punjab pointing to deteriorating pollution levels in the city of Lahore on pollutants originating in across the border following the celebrations.
Persistent Pollution Problem
Extremely elevated readings of atmospheric toxins in the city have persisted as a serious challenge for fifteen-plus years, with the problem showing no improvement.
Near the festival period, the amount of toxic airborne contaminants in the air has been documented to increase dramatically to 70% higher the worst levels ever measured in the Chinese city, which was once regarded as the planet's dirtiest city.
Diverse Contamination Factors
This crisis in the capital is attributed to a combination of various sources including transportation pollution, dust, building projects, waste incineration and smoke from crop residue ignition in adjacent regions of Punjab and Haryana.
Within these states, agricultural workers regularly burn crop residue to clear them quickly, producing toxic smog that then gets trapped over the capital as cooler air arrives.
Health and Financial Consequences
The economic and health consequences on the approximately 33 million people living in the Delhi area is enormous, according to numerous research.
These hazardous conditions leads to high levels of nervous system, cardiovascular and breathing conditions, and can even lead to cancer.
The pollution is calculated to be causing approximately 10k early fatalities annually in Delhi.