India Celebrates A Not So Swacch Diwali, Air Pollution Soars Across The Country

The level of air pollution across the country has gone up alarmingly as an after-effect of Diwali. According to the Meteorological Department, the impact of pollution will remain for the next two days.

Delhi recorded 210 micro grams per cubic metre of Nitrogen Dioxide yesterday (Thursday). The prescribed standard is 80 micro grams per cubic metre. Ahmedabad and Chennai recorded high levels of sulphur dioxide in the air at 503 and 393 micro grams per cubic metre, respectively.

"Since 5 pm on Thursday evening, we've been seeing a spike in the levels of toxic gases and materials in the air. Since the weather is calm and there is no wind to blow the smoke away, it's going to be rather heavy and we can feel the pollution," said Anumita Roychoudhury, executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment.

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According to System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), Delhi will stay more polluted than Beijing in the next two days, and the air pollution index is expected to rise to 450 from the present level of 220.