Delhi’s firecracker restrictions failed to prevent widespread fireworks across the capital on Sunday evening, with reports from areas including Pitampura, Burari, Mayur Vihar and Lutyens’ Delhi followed by a sharp deterioration in air quality early on Monday. The Central Pollution Control Board recorded an Air Quality Index of 406 at ITO at about 4.20 am, placing the station in the severe category.
Firecracker use was reported despite the Delhi government’s appeal to residents to follow the Supreme Court’s directions on the sale and use of green firecrackers. Reports from Burari indicated particularly intense bursting, while fireworks were also heard in Pitampura and Mayur Vihar. Residents in the Bishambardas Marg area and Lutyens’ Delhi also reported continued activity, although the intensity reduced somewhat as the evening progressed.
The district magistrate (East) had permitted the bursting of green firecrackers only on November 7 and 8, during two daily windows: from 6 am to 7 am and from 8 pm to 10 pm. The restrictions were intended to regulate both the timing and type of fireworks used during Diwali celebrations.
Under the applicable directions, firecrackers could not be burst within 300 metres of hospitals, nursing homes, health centres, old-age homes, educational institutions and other notified silence zones. Only green firecrackers certified by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute were permitted for sale.
The administration had directed that approved green firecrackers be sold only at locations designated by the Delhi Police. It had also announced joint patrolling and enforcement teams made up of district officials and Delhi Police personnel to check the unauthorised sale and use of prohibited firecrackers.
The reports of fireworks came as visibility fell across several parts of the capital after the celebrations. Thick smog was reported in areas including Inderlok, while pollution levels climbed at multiple monitoring stations. The CPCB classified ITO’s reading of 406 as severe at around 4.20 am.
Other monitoring locations also recorded very poor air quality. Rajiv Chowk registered an AQI of 381 at 1.30 am, while the area around South Extension recorded an AQI of 360 at 4 am, according to the CPCB data cited in the report.
The episode puts the focus on the gap between restrictions announced by the administration and their enforcement on the ground. The next steps under the announced arrangements involve joint patrolling by district officials and Delhi Police personnel against unauthorised sales and the use of prohibited firecrackers.
