Firecrackers send India’s pollution soaring

Air pollution levels in India’s capital soared off the charts once again Friday as millions of Indians burst firecrackers to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, despite a Supreme Court ban on the sale of fireworks in the region.

Already one of the world’s most notoriously polluted mega cities, the capital saw its air quality index gradually worsen until it reached a level of 1,031 around 9 a. m. Friday, according to the United States embassy in New Delhi. A reading of 0- 50 is considered good, while levels between 300 and 500 are considered “hazardous.” Anything above 500 is considered “Beyond Index.”

By Friday around 1 p.m., the U.S. embassy showed New Delhi’s pollution had dropped to 548, which still appeared to be the worst of any major city in the world.

India’s Supreme Court had banned the sale of firecrackers throughout the region in the days leading up to Diwali, after celebrations last year ushered in weeks of poisonous smog. The ban prompted some hand- wringing in the city of more than 20 million people because it targeted a Hindu religious festival.

But firecrackers are not the main cause of air pollution in New Delhi. Air quality generally deteriorates as winter sets in because of a combination of agricultural crop burning, dust from roads and construction sites and emissions from industry, coal power plants and vehicles.