page_title: Diwali
section_title: Air pollution
hierarchical_section_title: Diwali / Other traditions and significance / Issues / Air pollution
caption_attribution_description: English: Air quality data for Delhi in 2015, from August 1 to December 31. X-axis: dates Y-axis: light green is PM10 data; dark green is PM2.5 data; all measured in Delhi. Sources: [1] Location wise daily Ambient Air Quality of Delhi for the year 2015, A.B. Akolkar, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India (2018); [2] The safety threshold data is based on Air Quality Data standards, U.S. Embassy &amp; Consulates in India. Diwali has been proposed as a possible contributor to air pollution because it is celebrated using firecrackers. In 2015, the main Diwali was observed on November 11, the 5-day festival was over November 9 to 13 (orange). The data suggest that the air quality was unhealthy many weeks before and after the festival. Other causes of poor air quality in Delhi include the seasonable burning of crop stocks in neighboring regions such as Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the inefficient combustion of cow dung cakes and waste as cooking fuel.
context_page_description: Diwali, Divali, Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights, usually lasting five days and celebrated during the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance". The festival is widely associated with Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, but regional traditions connect it to Sita and Rama, Vishnu, Krishna, Yama, Yami, Durga, Kali, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman.
  In the lead-up to Diwali, celebrants will prepare by cleaning, renovating, and decorating their homes and workplaces with diyas and rangoli. During the Diwali people wear their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with diyas and rangoli, offer puja to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth, light fireworks, and partake in family feasts, where mithai and gifts are shared. Diwali is also a major cultural event for the Hindu and Jain diaspora from the Indian subcontinent.
  The five-day long festival originated in the Indian subcontinent and is mentioned in early Sanskrit texts.
context_section_description: The 51% of which is caused by the industrial pollution, 27% by vehicles, 8% by crop burning and 5% by diwali fireworks. The tradition of annual Diwali fireworks has caused widespread coverage in Indian media, where debate has centred on air quality within Indian cities in autumn and winter and the role the fireworks play. On 9 October 2017, the Supreme Court of India banned the sale, but not use, of fireworks in Delhi during the Diwali season, with the assumption that banning the use of fireworks would substantially improve the air quality of Delhi. Critics stated that the ruling was judicial over-reach and a bias against Hindu culture, while supporters stated that it would be beneficial to public health.
  Scholars have stated that many factors contribute to the poor air quality in Delhi, and northern India, that accompanies the harvest festival of Diwali. According to Jethva and others, the post-monsoon custom is to prepare the crop fields by deliberately burning the residual stubble between October and November. As crop productivity per hectare has increased with mechanised harvesting, this has led to the practice becoming more widespread in the northern and northwestern regions of India in the months when Diwali is observed. The smoke from the burning of the fields is carried by seasonal winds over the floodplain, where it is inverted by the colder winds and spread throughout the region for much of the winter. Other contributors to the poor air quality include daily vehicular and industrial activity along with the burning of other biomass.
  A study of residential areas of Delhi in 2006-08, found that concentration of particulate matter as well as sulphur dioxide increased on the day of Diwali relative to other days of the month and that the increase could be exacerbated by prevailing meteorological conditions; there was also a correlated increase in ambient noise levels. Another study of air pollution in Delhi found that the PM2.5 levels in 2015 and 2016 did rise over Diwali, but these higher levels were "a result of contribution from fireworks on the Diwali night, trans-regional movement of pollutants due to crop residue burning, low wind speed, and high humidity". The authors concluded that the contribution of the festival fireworks could lead to a 1.3% increase in the non-carcinogenic hazard index. Other studies have stated that the fireworks of Diwali produce particulates and pollutants with a decay-life time of about one day.
caption: The AQI PM2.5 and PM10 data for air quality from 1 August to 31 December 2015 in Delhi, India.[163][164] The 5-day Diwali festival in 2015 was observed from 9 to 13 November.
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