Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 28
Post-Diwali air quality in the capital was recorded at “severe” today, reaching alarming levels for the first time this festive season.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences put the AQI level in the capital at 463 at 11.30 am today while the Central Pollution Control Board, another agency, calculated an AQI of 348 this morning.
Both the scenarios proved that the capital was not enthused by green crackers available in the market this season and most revelers appear to have gone in for the conventional, pollution-causing firework segments.
The saving grace though was a better AQI post this Diwali compared to 2018 when the levels had reached a critical emergency phase of 600. AQI describes the health of the air envelope on a city by measuring particulate matter (PM) pollution – PM 2.5 and PM 10. Particulate matter pollution is lethal. It consists of fine dust particles that settle aerodynamically in the lungs, causing long-term harm to health.
Green crackers developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research reduce PM pollution by 30 per cent compared to traditional crackers. Delhi’s AQI of 463 at 11.30 am today did not compare very encouragingly with 367 in 2017, revealing gaps in government’s attempts to encourage the sale and use of green crackers this Diwali.
The green variety failed to meet its target for a variety of reasons, including lack of supply vis-à-vis demand; late commencement of the process of licensing for green crackers; general ignorance of people about the product and its importance; poor law enforcement.
“The CSIR developed the formulation for green crackers, held training workshops for the industry, set up facilities to test the quality of crackers being produced and hand held manufacturers over 2018 and 2019. It is up to the industry to take it from here. Also licenses have to be issued by PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization under the Commerce Ministry),” said Rakesh Kumar, Director at CSIR’s National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which designed green crackers for manufacturers.
Launched on October 5, production of green crackers could not be scaled up in time this Diwali. Few days ahead of the festival, only 28 cracker makers had been licensed to produce these. That explains why the post-Diwali AQI bore evidence to the absence of green cracker impact with the government hoping the next year would be better.
AQI levels are rated as following – 0 to 50 (good); 51-100 (satisfactory); 101-200 (moderate); 201-300 (poor); 301-400 (very poor); 401-500 (severe); AQI above 500 is called emergency level which Delhi had seen last year when the quality fell to 600. Experts also warned today of further deterioration in air quality around the capital once stubble burning will start in Punjab, Haryana and UP. The burning will exacerbate pollution levels caused by emissions from firecrackers with people in several locations in the capital flouting SC’s 8 to 10 pm deadline for firecracker bursting last night.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2NjtmrL
via Today’s News Headlines
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October 28, 2019
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