Fireworks cloud Diwali joy

A joyous Diwali has been marred by the pall of hazardous pollutants that enveloped several cities the morning after, sending the Air Quality Index (AQI) soaring to hazardous levels.

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The National Capital Region, which got the Supreme Court's nod to use ‘green’ firecrackers just ahead of the festival, appears to be the hardest hit among big cities, with a peak AQI of over 900 on the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) dashboard, and twice that level going by other monitoring agencies’ data. Many other cities fared only marginally better, with Mumbai recording 439 at 10 pm and remaining in the severe category later; Chennai hit 448 at 7 pm, Hyderabad 414 and Bengaluru 369, when a safe AQI stands at less than 50. In a country where people breathe air laced with particulate matter that is on average 10 times higher than World Health Organisation (WHO) norms, this crisis is significantly cutting healthy life years and longevity as a whole. Those with compromised lung function and living with debilitating conditions, such a