Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday said Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated due to farm fires and deliberate bursting of crackers despite the Diwali ban.
He alleged that the BJP on Thursday asked people to burst crackers on Diwali.
Rai said that the base pollution of Delhi remains the same. Only two factors have been added – crackers and stubble burning.
“A large number of people did not burst crackers. I thank them all. But some people deliberately burst crackers. The BJP asked him to do so,” he told reporters here.
The minister said that the number of farm fires has risen to 3,500 and its impact is visible in Delhi.
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According to SAFAR, the air quality forecasting agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Delhi’s PM2.5 on Friday accounted for 36 per cent of stubble burning, which is the highest ever this season. Gufran Baig, Founder Project Director, SAFAR, said, “Delhi’s overall air quality has dropped to the upper end of the severe category with additional fireworks emissions. The share of stubble emissions has reached 36 per cent today.”
On Thursday, farm fires accounted for 25 percent of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution.
Last year, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution reached 42 per cent on November 5. In 2019, burning of crop residues accounted for 44 per cent of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution as on November 1.
The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM2.5 was 32 per cent on Diwali last year, compared to 19 per cent in 2019.
A thick layer of fog enveloped the Delhi-NCR region on Friday after a massive burst of firecrackers on Diwali night amid rising smoke from stubble burning.
Ahead of the festive season, the Delhi government had announced a complete ban on firecrackers till January 1, 2022. It launched an aggressive campaign against the sale and use of firecrackers.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI), which entered the ‘severe’ category last night, continued its upward trend and stood at 462 at 12 noon on Friday.
Neighboring cities of Faridabad (460), Greater Noida (423), Ghaziabad (450), Gurugram (478) and Noida (466) also recorded ‘severe’ air quality at 12 noon.
An AQI between zero and 50 is ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 and 500 ‘very poor’. considered ‘serious’.
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