Ahead of Diwali, the denizens of Delhi are in for an intriguing paradox. Aided by public campaigns and legal intervention, there is sharp fall in the popularity of crackers with several establishments saying they are doing much less business than previous years. Shopkeepers from Delhi's wholesale fire-cracker market of Sadar Bazar that hosts over a 100 temporary cracker shops around Delhi, told the Delhi Times that they are experiencing the worst business phase in 40 years and sales have only been 20% of what it was last year. Figures compiled by the publication suggest that sales in Gurgaon have dipped 50% and 40% in Noida from last year.
Even the government has exhorted citizens to go easy. Delhi's Environment Minister Imran Hussai, launched a campaign "Say No to Fire Crackers" at a school here and asked children not to burst fire-crackers.
However with all these steps, meteorologists have warned that Diwali is going to be 'critically polluted' in Delhi and children ought to stay indoors. According to the health advisory issued by SAFAR, a government-led pollution monitoring bureau, “Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low….” from the night of November 11 to the afternoon of November 12. Moreover the days after Diwali are going to see an increase in smog and haze and will be more noxious than Diwali.
According to the body, pollution is going to be high because people are going to burst a certain amount of crackers and the prevailing weather in Delhi will exacerbate the resultant pollution. Air quality in Delhi, while generally bad, is particularly so after the monsoons and the advent of winter.
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"Cooler temperature and downward shift of the inversion layer means Delhi will breathe severe air for at least a day immediately after Diwali," Gufran Beig, a scientist with SAFAR told the Indian Express “Under these conditions, particles emitted from fireworks will sit on water droplets and cause them to multiply, resulting in more particles in suspended air .This process is called secondary particle formation and is likely to happen on November 12 and 13."
The scourge of Delhi is particulate matter which are tiny particles in the air that can penetrate the lungs and cause severe health hazards. The finer PM 2.5 particles are worse than PM 10--both references to the average diameter of these blobs--and can penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract, causing severe respiratory problems. From a peak of 450 micrograms per cubic metre on the day after the festival last year, PM 10 levels this year are expected to go up to 956 micrograms per cubic metre on November 12 and according to SAFAR, PM 2.5 levels are expected to shoot up from last year’s 250 to 450 micrograms per cubic metre this year.
The tolerable PM 2.5 is around 60 micrograms per cubic metre while it is 100 micrograms per cubic metre for PM 10. According to SAFAR scientists, Noida and Delhi University will witness the highest pollution while Lodhi Road and Mathura Road will see the least pollution. Peak pollution hours will begin at about 1 am on November 11. This forecast is based on prevailing weather conditions, assuming that the number of crackers set off remain the same as last year.
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Even the government has exhorted citizens to go easy. Delhi's Environment Minister Imran Hussai, launched a campaign "Say No to Fire Crackers" at a school here and asked children not to burst fire-crackers.
However with all these steps, meteorologists have warned that Diwali is going to be 'critically polluted' in Delhi and children ought to stay indoors. According to the health advisory issued by SAFAR, a government-led pollution monitoring bureau, “Everyone should avoid all physical activity outdoors; people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low….” from the night of November 11 to the afternoon of November 12. Moreover the days after Diwali are going to see an increase in smog and haze and will be more noxious than Diwali.
According to the body, pollution is going to be high because people are going to burst a certain amount of crackers and the prevailing weather in Delhi will exacerbate the resultant pollution. Air quality in Delhi, while generally bad, is particularly so after the monsoons and the advent of winter.
"Cooler temperature and downward shift of the inversion layer means Delhi will breathe severe air for at least a day immediately after Diwali," Gufran Beig, a scientist with SAFAR told the Indian Express “Under these conditions, particles emitted from fireworks will sit on water droplets and cause them to multiply, resulting in more particles in suspended air .This process is called secondary particle formation and is likely to happen on November 12 and 13."
The scourge of Delhi is particulate matter which are tiny particles in the air that can penetrate the lungs and cause severe health hazards. The finer PM 2.5 particles are worse than PM 10--both references to the average diameter of these blobs--and can penetrate deeper into the respiratory tract, causing severe respiratory problems. From a peak of 450 micrograms per cubic metre on the day after the festival last year, PM 10 levels this year are expected to go up to 956 micrograms per cubic metre on November 12 and according to SAFAR, PM 2.5 levels are expected to shoot up from last year’s 250 to 450 micrograms per cubic metre this year.
The tolerable PM 2.5 is around 60 micrograms per cubic metre while it is 100 micrograms per cubic metre for PM 10. According to SAFAR scientists, Noida and Delhi University will witness the highest pollution while Lodhi Road and Mathura Road will see the least pollution. Peak pollution hours will begin at about 1 am on November 11. This forecast is based on prevailing weather conditions, assuming that the number of crackers set off remain the same as last year.
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