A thick layer of smog enveloped Delhi on Friday morning.
Delhi Pollution News: With Delhi's air quality plummeting to 'severe' and 'hazardous' in several areas a day after Diwali, minister Gopal Rai blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the pollution. Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai said that though a large number of people refrained from bursting crackers, a few people did it on purpose.
He said Delhi's air quality deteriorated on Friday morning due to a surge in farm fires and some people bursting firecrackers on purpose on Diwali despite a ban on it. Rai alleged that the BJP made people burst firecrackers on Diwali on Thursday.
"A large number of people did not burst firecrackers. I thank them all. But some people burst firecrackers on purpose. The BJP made them do it," he told reporters.
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Rai said Delhi's base pollution has remained the same. Only two factors have been added - firecrackers and stubble burning.
The minister said the number of farm fires has risen to 3,500 and its impact is visible in Delhi.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality forecast agency SAFAR, stubble burning accounted for 36 per cent of Delhi's PM2.
5 on Friday, the highest so far this season.
"The overall air quality of Delhi plunged to the upper end of the severe category with additional firework emissions. The share of stubble emissions has peaked today at 36 per cent," said Gufran Beig, the founder project director of SAFAR.
On Thursday, farm fires accounted for 25 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution.
(With inputs from agencies)
