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Despite the wide aerial prime staying successful the mediocre class for the 5th consecutive time successful the nationalist capital, Delhiites burst firecrackers successful antithetic parts of the city, openly flouting a prohibition connected bursting firecrackers. The aerial prime is apt to crook “very poor” connected Deepavali and “severe” a time later, arsenic per authoritative data.
While the wide aerial prime of Delhi was “poor”, Anand Vihar recorded “severe” aerial prime and galore areas specified arsenic Wazirpur, Bawana, and Siri Fort reeled nether “very poor” aerial quality.
On October 15, the Supreme Court relaxed the broad prohibition connected fireworks successful Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) and allowed the merchantability of greenish fireworks approved by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) from October 18 to 20.
However, the SC restricted the bursting of firecrackers to October 19 and 20, betwixt 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., and 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Firecrackers were burst connected Saturday (October 18, 2025) nighttime astatine antithetic parts of the city, including Bhogal, Jangpura Extension, Malviya Nagar, and CR Park. Activists had already expressed their uncertainty astir whether the authorities would beryllium capable to instrumentality the ban.
According to Delhi Police information accessed by The Hindu, aft the Supreme Court allowed the merchantability of “green firecrackers”, they received 159 applications by traders for selling greenish firecrackers, retired of which 103 person been approved and 56 are inactive nether process. “The 56 different sellers who person submitted their applications, mightiness person the support by contiguous since the process is ongoing,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police, that was earlier successful complaint of seizing accepted firecrackers, owed to the broad ban, has present been instructed to cheque the QR codes connected the packets of the firecrackers to differentiate betwixt a greenish and non-green firecracker, the serviceman added.
In 2019, erstwhile lone greenish firecrackers were archetypal allowed successful the marketplace and respective months were fixed to hole for implementing it, Delhi inactive saw the determination being openly flouted and besides determination was a deficiency of banal successful galore shops.
From 2020 to 2024, Delhi has had a implicit prohibition connected each types of firecrackers, including greenish firecrackers, during Deepavali, but it has been openly flouted by Delhiites each twelvemonth with impunity.
‘Poor to precise mediocre air’
“The aerial prime is precise apt to beryllium successful the precocious extremity of the Poor class connected 19.10.2025. The aerial prime is precise apt to beryllium successful the precocious extremity of the Very Poor class connected 20.10.2025. The aerial prime whitethorn scope the Severe class connected 21.10.2025 successful lawsuit of enhanced emissions from firecrackers. The outlook for the consequent 6 Days: The aerial prime is apt to beryllium successful the Severe to Poor category,” said a regular bulletin from the Central government’s ‘Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi’.
Delhi’s 24-hour mean air quality index (AQI) was 268 astatine 4 p.m. connected Saturday (October 18), up from 254 a time earlier, arsenic per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) regular authoritative bulletin, which is considered arsenic the day’s authoritative AQI. A higher worth of AQI means an summation successful air pollution.
An AQI betwixt 51 and 100 is “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 is termed arsenic “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
Several different towns and cities successful northbound India besides witnessed “poor” aerial prime and Ghaziabad AQI was 324 (very poor) — the worst AQI successful India, arsenic per CPCB’s bulletin.
Every winter, air pollution spikes successful Delhi-NCR and astir parts of the larger Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) chiefly owed to meteorological factors specified little upwind velocity and driblet successful temperature, and contamination from stubble burning during October-November and bursting of firecrackers worsens it.
