NEW DELHI: Delhi woke up to a thick blanket of smoke on Monday, a day after Diwali celebrations, as air quality deteriorated sharply across the capital. Several monitoring stations recorded readings in the severe category, with residents reporting poor visibility and breathing difficulties.
Air quality readings varied across monitoring platforms and time periods. One report put Delhi's average Air Quality Index (AQI) at 1,713 at 2 am, far above the index's upper limit of 500. The Central Pollution Control Board's data, meanwhile, showed an AQI of 370 at 9.05 am, with eight monitoring stations recording readings above 400.
At 10 pm on Sunday, 20 of the 59 monitoring stations reporting data were in the severe category, 33 recorded very poor air quality and six were in the poor category, according to the CPCB's Sameer app.
Sonia Vihar recorded the highest AQI at 463, followed by Jahangirpuri at 450. Vivek Vihar, Rohini, DTU and Punjabi Bagh were among the other stations reporting readings above 400. In the National Capital Region, Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 371, Noida 338, Faridabad 323 and Gurugram 309.
The deterioration followed widespread bursting of firecrackers on Sunday evening despite restrictions. An order issued by the East Delhi district magistrate permitted the use of green crackers only on November 7 and 8, between 6 am and 7 am and 8 pm and 10 pm, in accordance with Supreme Court directions.
Residents reported firecracker use in several neighbourhoods, including Pitampura, Burari, Mayur Vihar and Lutyens' Delhi. Burari reportedly witnessed particularly heavy use. The smell of burnt crackers lingered in several areas after the celebrations.
The Air Quality Early Warning System forecast that Delhi would enter the severe category on November 9 and remain there for several days. It cited a ventilation index below 6,000 square metres per second and wind speeds below 10 kmph as factors likely to hinder pollutant dispersal.
PM2.5 remained the dominant pollutant. Transport contributed 19 per cent of Delhi's pollution on Sunday, while stubble burning accounted for 3.5 per cent. The contribution from stubble burning was forecast to be around 2.99 per cent on Monday.
The pollution crisis also triggered a political exchange between the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party over stubble burning in Punjab.
Delhi Labour Minister Kapil Mishra claimed satellite data showed farm-fire incidents in Punjab rising from 100-125 over three days to around 1,200 on Diwali evening. He alleged that people had entered fields and set crop residue on fire while farmers were celebrating at home.
Calling it a "conspiracy against farmers, against Diwali, against Delhi, against Punjab", Mishra said he was not blaming farmers. He urged Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to order an investigation and register FIRs. He also accused the AAP of running paid campaigns to malign Diwali.
The AAP rejected the allegations. Its media in-charge Baltej Pannu accused BJP leaders of blaming Punjab for Delhi's pollution even before paddy harvesting had begun.
Punjab recorded 1,152 active stubble-burning incidents on November 8, the highest single-day count this season. The surge reversed an earlier decline in cases. The state had recorded 3,307 incidents up to November 7, against 3,384 during the corresponding period last year, a decline of 2.3 per cent.
The Diwali-day spike took the cumulative count to 4,459 by November 8, compared with 3,622 during the corresponding period last year, marking an increase of 23.1 per cent.
With input from PTI and media reports.