All of us must have celebrated Diwali. Now let us see the effects of Diwali celebration on environment of the city. Air pollution has gone up on this Diwali as compared to 2011. This year, the city reported acute rise in air pollution as compared to last few years. The ambient air quality monitoring by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, has shown that compared to normal days, there was 80% rise in respirable suspended particulate matter pollutant caused due to firecrackers during this year’s Diwali festival.
Respirable suspended particulate matters (RSPM) are fine particles that are harmful to both environment and health.Smoke from firecrackers mainly releases the pollutant PM 2.5, which is more harmful than PM 10. The bursting of firecrackers increases the PM 2.5 level. In PM 2.5, the particles are less than 2.5 micrometers and can enter our system when inhaled. It can cause respiratory problems, including asthma and other upper respiratory diseases.
During winter, pollution is dispersed. With fall in temperature at night, the pollution gets arrested on the surface. This year, it has been observed that the winter pollution has shot up to 20% more compared to last year. Last year, PM 2.5 level was not more than 70-80 ug/m3, whereas this year, it has crossed 100 ug/m3.
