But it did not take long for the sound of explosions to pierce the silence, a resident of Kailash Hills said. Residents of Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi, Burari in North Delhi, Paschim Vihar in West Delhi and Shahdara in East Delhi reported incidents of firecracker bursting as early as 7 pm, despite the blanket ban in the national capital till January 1, 2022.Ī substantial dip in cracker bursting in the evening seemed a break from tradition. People from several parts of the city and its suburbs complained of itchy throat and watery eyes, as a layer of smog, the first episode this season, lingered over the region. The neighbouring cities of Faridabad (424), Ghaziabad (442), Gurgaon (423) and Noida (431) also recorded 'severe' air quality with cracker bursting peaking after 9 pm.
The air in Delhi and surrounding areas hung heavy with acrid smoke as people burst firecrackers on Diwali in a blatant disregard to the government's ban on it amid a sharp increase in fumes from farm fires.Ĭontinuing its upward trend, the city's air quality index, which stood at 382 at 4 pm, entered the severe zone around 8 pm as low temperature and wind speed allowed the accumulation of pollutants.
