Smog blankets New Delhi as Diwali firecrackers worsen air quality

Diwali firecrackers worsened New Delhi’s seasonal pollution, leaving the Indian capital under heavy smog on Monday. Air quality reached “severe” levels in several areas, raising health concerns for the city’s residents.

The Air Quality Index exceeded 350, while monitors had recorded pollution more than 30 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit in the days before Diwali. India’s Supreme Court had restricted fireworks to approved, lower-emission “green firecrackers” during specified three-hour windows, but these still produce pollution. New Delhi has about 30 million residents, and winter conditions trap emissions; vehicles contribute 23 percent of winter pollution and biomass burning, including farm fires, 20 percent.