Chandigarh Administration had issued restrictions on fire crackers for celebrations of Diwali and other festivals. As per the order only green fire crackers were to be burnt and that too between 8 PM to 10 PM only on the day of Diwali.
As this time Diwali was in November and due to climatic condition and stubble burning air quality was already deteriorating and sometimes came under very poor category. It is very good to see that before Diwali there were very less bursting of fire crackers. However, on Diwali day there was lots of bursting of fire crackers which is clearly reflecting in the air quality data monitored by Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee in various areas of Chandigarh. There was improvement in the AQI after 2-3 AM 13.11.2023 and it is further improving due to dissipation of the air. The observations made on the next day morning of Diwali showed that now air quality comes to moderate which was severe at last night. The details of the data recorded is given as below.
Monitoring of ambient air quality and noise levels were conducted on Normal day i.e. approx. one week before Diwali day and on Diwali day. Monitoring was conducted on 06.11.2023(normal day) and on 12.11.2023 (Diwali Day) at six locations. Trend of air quality during normal day was satisfactory or moderate (AQI levels below 150) at all the stations even on the day of Diwali it was observed to be satisfactory upto 6 PM. However, after 6 PM air quality got worsened and around 10 PM it was observed to be Severe in Sector 53 and Very Poor category at Sec. 22, PEC-12 and IMTECH where AQI reached the mark of 453, 392, 301 and 360 respectively. It was observed that in each station air quality index and noise levels increased on Diwali day in comparison to normal day. It is matter of relief that because of weather conditions AQI is again improving after 3 AM on 13.11.2023 and is likely to continue further.
Noise levels were also increased on Diwali day in comparison to normal day. Highest noise levels were found in the Sec. 22 which was 79.2 dB(A) and lowest noise levels were found in Sec. 17 which was 64.4 dB(A) during the period between 8PM to 10 PM.
