Guwahati is choking as air pollution soars a day after Diwali

Guwahati, Nov 6: A day after the Diwali celebrations in Assam, residents of Guwahati woke up to deteriorated levels of air quality on Friday. There was a wide scale flouting of the 2-hour firecracker bursting window where the Pollution Control Board had allowed the citizens to burst only green firecrackers from 8 PM to 10 PM.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM 2.5 stood at 213 on Friday while the earlier AQI was 110, according to the data published by Central Pollution Control Board. The air quality in Guwahati dropped from Moderate to Poor post Diwali celebrations. AQI between 101 and 200 is considered moderate and AQI between 201 and 300 is termed as 'poor'.

This data comes at a time when the Supreme Court completely banned bursting of firecrackers containing Barium salts and only green firecrackers were allowed to be burst for two hours by the Pollution Control Board.