The Supreme Court has demanded explanations from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Delhi police regarding the failure to enforce the ban
The Delhi sky lit up on Thursday as people celebrated Diwali defying a ban on firecrackers. Areas including Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Chhatarpur, Jaunapur, East of Kailash, Saket, Rohini, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh, Vikas Puri, Dilshad Garden, Burari and many other neighbourhoods of east and west Delhi saw firecrackers being burst. At 9 pm, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 327, with Alipur, Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Aaya Nagar, Bawana, Burari, Mathura Road, IGI Airport, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela, Patparganj, Rohini, Shadipur, Sonia Vihar, Wazirpur, Mandir Marg, Nehru Nagar, Najafgarh and other weather-monitoring stations witnessing "very poor" air quality, according to the Sameer app that provides hourly updates of the National AQI published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). With the 24-hour AQI recorded at 328 at 4 pm, Delhi experienced its worst air quality on Diwali in the last three years. Following the practice of the last four years, the city ...
Earlier on Monday, Gopal Rai launched the 'Diya Jalao, Patake Nahi' campaign, urging the public to avoid firecrackers to keep pollution in check
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee has put a complete ban on all kinds of firecrackers on manufacturing, storage, selling, and bursting up to January 1, 2025
Delhi air pollution: Doctors say breathing in the polluted air of Delhi is equivalent to the harmful effects of smoking approximately ten cigarettes a day
This comes after the city was engulfed in a thick layer of smog following the bursting of firecrackers on Diwali night
A stringent enforcement of the ban on firecrackers holds the promise of delivering the best air quality on Diwali day in eight years for Delhi on Sunday. Delhiites woke up to clear skies and abundant sunshine, and the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 202 at 7 am, the best in at least three weeks. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'. Saturday's 24-hour average air quality index stood at 220, the lowest for the day before Diwali in eight years. This time, Delhi saw a sharp improvement in air quality just ahead of Diwali which can be attributed to intermittent rainfall on Friday and wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants. To put this in perspective, Thursday's 24-hour average AQI stood at 437. Delhi recorded an AQI of 312 on Diwali last year, 382 in 2021, 414 in 2020, 337 in 2019, 281 in 2018, 319 in 2017
Firecracker ban in Delhi and Karnataka government not granting license for the sale are among several reasons
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had asked Delhi police not to issue temporary licences for the sale of firecrackers in the capital city
The Supreme Court refused to interfere in Delhi government's decision to ban firecrackers. Delhi Government banned bursting, sale, storage and even manufacturing of firecrackers in the Capital city
Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that government has decided to ban production, storage, sale, and bursting of crackers
Following a surge in complaints after Diwali in October, the Canadian city of Brampton unanimously moved a motion on Thursday to ban fireworks
The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) of 312 was the second best for the Diwali day in seven years
Despite a complete ban on firecrackers in the national capital, the Fire Department received as many as 201 calls during Diwali, officials said on Tuesday."A total of 201 calls pertaining to fire incidents were received in Delhi, yesterday during Diwali," said Director, of Delhi Fire Services, Atul Garg.Ahead of the festival, the Fire chief had said that the department was prepared to fight fires through drones with which they could access high-rise buildings. Fire tenders were deployed near congested areas.Meanwhile, on Monday evening a fire broke out at an apartment in a residential society in Greater Noida West on Diwali evening, officials said.The fire broke out in the flat located in Vedantam Society in Gaur City 2 area, under Bisrakh police station limits, prompting relief operations at the site, according to police officials.Chief Fire Officer Arun Kumar Singh said that efforts are on to douse the fire completely."We got information at around 10.05 pm about a fire at a flat on .
Gujarat BJP chief C R Paatil has hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his government's decision to completely ban firecrackers in the national capital, and dubbed such people "anti-religious" who were stopping citizens from celebrating their festivals. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government last month re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, 2023, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following for the last two years. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai recently said bursting of firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi will attract a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 200. Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, Rai had said. Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly polls due later this year, AAP national convener Kejriwal has visited the state multiple times in the rece
The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch on Saturday slammed the AAP-led Delhi government over the imposition of a complete ban on all kinds of firecrackers in the city, terming the move "inappropriate and unscientific". It also alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government's "blanket ban" on firecrackers was aimed at misguiding people and diverting their attention from the real cause of air pollution in the national capital. Government agencies have failed to solve the problem of stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and other parts of the country even though it is the "biggest source" of air pollution in the national capital and the surrounding northern states, the SJM said without naming anyone. "The SJM strongly opposes the complete ban on firecrackers by the Delhi government during the festival of Diwali as it is inappropriate," it said in a statement. "The SJM also urges all state governments to make efforts to find a permanent solution to the problem of stubble burning and
The percentage of households bursting firecrackers in Delhi-NCR on Diwali could be the highest in five years as two out of every five families are likely to indulge in the activity, according to a survey. Ten per cent of the respondents said they have already bought firecrackers from shops in Delhi, while 20 per cent said they have purchased firecrackers from other cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), indicating that the ban on the sale of such items is not as effective as it needs to be, according to the survey conducted by LocalCircles. The survey received more than 10,000 responses from the residents of all the districts in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. Sixty-nine per cent of the respondents were men, while 31 per cent were women. "Sixty-one per cent respondents said they will not be burning any crackers either because they are convinced that they cause pollution or because they are abiding by the ban. The survey results, when compared over time, indica
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accord urgent hearing to a plea against an order banning storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2023. A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi asked the lawyer, who mentioned the matter seeking urgent hearing, to approach the Delhi High Court. "Let the high court decide, we will not get into this," the bench said. The lawyer, who sought the urgent hearing, submitted before the bench that the high court has taken a view that the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and listed it on October 18. The Delhi High Court had earlier deferred hearing on the plea of green cracker merchants against an order banning storage, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1. The petitioners contended that the absolute ban by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee is in contravention of the orders of the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal, which never provi
Firecrackers - a Diwali staple - are not a common sight this time round
"The decision to ban all forms of firecrackers prior to about 1.5 months of Diwali is arbitrary and unreasonable," the petition contended