The national capital woke up to a toxic haze on Tuesday following Diwali celebrations, with air quality plunging to "very poor" levels because of widespread bursting of firecrackers.
The sharp deterioration in air quality has reignited a political tussle between the ruling BJP and the Opposition AAP.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi's average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 351 at 4pm on Tuesday, firmly in the "very poor" category. Similar readings were recorded earlier in the day: 352 at 8am, 346 at 5am, and 347 at 6am. The post-Diwali average AQI in 2024 was 339, despite a complete ban on firecrackers.
This year, the Supreme Court permitted the use of "green crackers" for a limited time. Amitabh Kant, former CEO of Niti Aayog and India’s G20 Sherpa in 2023, took to X to voice his concern. "The Supreme Court has prioritised the right to burn crackers over the right to live and breathe," he said.
Kant, who has always advocated the Centre’s policies, made strong remarks against pollution, saying the readings at 36 of 38 monitoring stations hit the red zone with AQI above 400. "Delhi’s air quality lies in shambles. Only ruthless and sustained execution can save Delhi from this health and environmental catastrophe," he wrote.
The political blame-game also hung heavy, just like the smog. Delhi’s environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa of the BJP pointed fingers at the AAP-led Punjab government for allegedly encouraging stubble burning in the neighbouring state.
In a media conference, Sirsa presented videos purporting to show farmers in Punjab burning crop residue with their faces covered. "The AAP is deliberately forcing farmers to burn stubble in Punjab so that the smoke impacts Delhi,” he alleged. “Farmers don’t want to burn stubble but are being made to.”
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj denied this and questioned the BJP for stopping the live-streaming of pollution data from Monday night. "No farmer in Punjab would burn crop residue to malign Diwali. As per reports, compared to the last five years, cases of crop residue burning were far less this time,” he said.
According to a study, the 2025 post-Diwali period was the most polluted since 2021 when average PM2.5 concentration touched 488 micrograms per cubic metre, three times more than the pre-festival level of 156.6 micrograms per cubic metre.