On 12th November, the people of Delhi defied the firecracker ban imposed by the Supreme Court of India and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government. For hours, Delhi witnessed Diwali celebrations at full glory.
Air quality across Delhi continues to be in the 'Poor' category as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2023
AQI in Anand Vihar at 296, in RK Puram at 290, in Punjabi Bagh at 280 and in ITO at 263 pic.twitter.com/z0GRhqSqgR
While media trials of Hindus have begun blaming their festival for the poor air quality in the national capital, data shows that the AQI is “much better” compared to what it was a few days back due to stubble-burning instances in Punjab. In a post, Rajdeep Sardesai blamed Diwali for poor air quality. He wrote, “AQI this morning in Anand Vihar is as high as 970 and terribly hazardous. The day after Diwali is smog filled and polluted in many parts of the national capital. So much for the Supreme Court cracker ban. There are many wonderful ways to celebrate Diwali, bursting crackers through the night is surely not one of them.”
AQI this morning in Anand Vihar is as high as 970 and terribly hazardous. The day after Diwali is smog filled and polluted in many parts of the national capital. So much for the Supreme Court cracker ban.. there are many wonderful ways to celebrate Diwali, bursting crackers…
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 13, 2023
Times Now also blamed Diwali for poor AQI.
Delhi was shrouded in a dense smog post-Diwali due to widespread cracker bursting, despite the government's 'Diya Jalao, Patakhe nahi' initiative and the Supreme Court's firecracker restrictions. @Sabyasachi_13 & @DSKTweeets with more inputs pic.twitter.com/y2iFIct8Xx
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 13, 2023
Times of India was on similar lines blaming Diwali for the poor AQI.
#DelhiAirPollution #DelhiPollution #DelhiAirQuality
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) November 13, 2023
The aftermath of #Diwali celebrations resulted in severe #pollution throughout Delhi, exacerbating the already deteriorating #AirQuality crisis.
TOI Photos by Anindya chattopadhyay pic.twitter.com/7ii99WdpbL
Interestingly, the Delhi air was far worse in the weeks preceding Diwali because of the farm fires in Punjab. It was only the blessings of the ‘Rain Gods’ that brought down AQI dramatically a couple of days before Diwali in Delhi. Otherwise, neither the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government nor the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government was able to control pollution. Not to forget, the Supreme Court categorically blamed stubble burning in Punjab for the worsening air quality in Delhi. Interestingly, AAP in Delhi kept giving Punjab clean chit throughout the stubble-burning season and accused other states like Haryana, where stubble-burning instances were not even 10% of Punjab.
OpIndia checked the AQI of Delhi from 8 PM on 12th November to 8 AM on 13th November and compared it to AQI at 8 PM on 6th November to 8 PM on 11th November to get a clearer picture. We checked Anand Vihar for the comparison.
Anand Vihar AQI stats
Firecrackers started to peak at around 8 PM in Delhi. At that time, the AQI of Anand Vihar station was 286. At 10 PM, the AQi increased by a few points and was recorded at 294. At 12 AM on 13th November, the AQI crossed the 300 mark and was recorded at 302. At 2 AM, it improved a bit and was recorded at 291. At 4 AM, the AQI again enhanced to 283. At 6 AM, it was recorded at 296, and at 8 AM, the AQI was 312. All the numbers have been taken from the Central Pollution Control Board’s National Air Quality Index.
On 6th November, the AQI of Anand Vihar at 8 PM was 429. On 7th November, it was 457. On 8th November, it was 445. On the 9th and 10th of November, as it was raining, the website showed insufficient data. So we changed the time to 11 AM on 9th November. At that time, AQI was 431. Data for 10th November was not available. On 11th November at 8 PM, AQI was recorded at 265.
The data clearly shows that the bad air quality in Delhi is not because of Diwali but stubble-burning incidents, especially in AAP-led Punjab.
It is notable here that many media channels have been reporting much elevated AQI levels in different parts of Delhi at 12 AM on Diwali night. But it was when Diwali was on and AQI levels are expected to be bad because cold air traps pollutants. Even inside homes, the pollutant indicators in air purifier go red when there is cooking going on in the kitchen. The levels come down after some time.
The way the media and some so-called ‘activists’ are blaming Diwali to shame Delhi residents for celebrating their festival for a day while actively ignoring the farm fires in Punjab, that are the consistent reason behind the toxic air in Delhi shows their hypocrisy. The narrative is to blame the Hindu festival and Delhi residents celebrating it, while governments carry on ignoring actual issues that cause pollution.
