Delhi Kicks Off Smog Season Shrouded In Fireworks Smoke After Diwali; AQ Index Above 500 - 10X "Healthy" Level
Delhi awoke to a thick haze on Tuesday, a day after millions of people celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali with fireworks, marking the beginning of the pollution season that has become an annual blight on India’s capital. Those in the most polluted city in the world once again found themselves breathing dangerously toxic air that fell into the “severe” category on Tuesday morning.
Part of Delhi showed an air quality index (AQI) of more than 500, which is 10 times higher than the level deemed healthy by the World Health Organization. In some areas, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 – the toxic particles causing pollution – recorded peaks of 1,800, which is 15 to 20 times higher than those deemed healthy.
Since 2020, the sale and bursting of firecrackers had been banned in Delhi during Diwali, known as the festival of light, due to their contribution to the deadly smog that engulfs the city as winter sets in. However, earlier this year the newly elected regional Delhi government led by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), the Hindu nationalist party which also governs at the national level, approached the supreme court to ask for the ban to be relaxed. They proposed that “green crackers” – which have been previously shunned by environmentalists as they are only about 30% less polluting – be allowed over Diwali celebrations as a balance between “tradition and environment”.
Much to the frustration of environmental and health campaigners, judges complied with the BJP’s request, stipulating that the green firecrackers could be set off during stipulated time windows during Diwali. On Monday night, there was a widespread flouting of the time restrictions across the capital and little regulation on whether the firecrackers were the more environmentally friendly variety. Many recording stations in Delhi showed pollution peaking at around midnight to some of the worst levels during Diwali in at least three years.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/21/delhi-awakes-toxic-haze-diwali-pollution-season-begins