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The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday authorized the use of reduced-smoke fireworks during Diwali, the festival of Hindu lights, next month.
Activists had asked the highest court to ban fireworks altogether, as pollution levels in the capital rose again in dangerous territory.
Read more: Diwali without firecrackers, it's like "Christmas without fir trees"
Each year, Diwali celebrations leave the capital, New Delhi, and its satellite cities, invaded by a cloud of toxic smoke and dangerous levels of fine particles (PM 2.5), small particles posing the greatest threat to the lungs. .
Air quality is still deteriorating at this time of year due to the burning of crop residues in neighboring states, vehicle exhaust gases and industrial gases.
A bench of two judges said that firecrackers would be allowed during Diwali, Christmas and New Year, under certain conditions.
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Diwali: Smog smothers New Delhi despite prohibition of fireworks
Diwali: the festival of light
Diwali, a festival commemorating the triumph of light over darkness, is being observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains throughout South Asia. The festival is often celebrated with fireworks, lighting candles and cleaning his house. But this year was to be different: the authorities in New Delhi wanted to evaluate the impact of fireworks on the toxic levels of air pollution in October.
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Diwali: smog smothers New Delhi despite ban on fireworks
Despite the ban, fireworks illuminate Diwali
On October 9, the Supreme Court of India banned the sale of fireworks in New Delhi in order to prevent a repeat of the "airpocalypse" of 2016 that left the 20 million inhabitants of the city panting for days. The only problem: the court did not prohibit the use of fireworks, paving the way for a toxic haze the next day.
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Diwali: Smog smothers New Delhi despite prohibition of fireworks
Toxic Haze: Morning after Diwali
After the end of the Diwali celebrations, tiny amounts of tiny particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the blood, have reached alarming levels. In parts of New Delhi, the air quality has reached 941, which is close to the maximum value of 999. New Delhi, ranked the world's most polluted city in 2014 by WHO, debate every winter with toxic pollution.
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Diwali: smog smothers New Delhi despite ban on fireworks
& # 39; Breathe nitrate & ammonia & # 39;
Environmental activists have called on the Indian authorities to declare a public emergency because of the dangerous levels of pollutants in the air. Critics have accused the Indian police of failing to properly apply the ban on sales of firecrackers. "Breathe nitrate and ammonia, homemade, handmade," said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha.
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Diwali: Smog smothers New Delhi despite prohibition of fireworks
Lining of money?
Despite the harmful levels of pollution hovering over New Delhi after Diwali commemorations, pollution levels were at their lowest level in three years, according to the Central Pollution Control Board of India. Last year, Diwali coincided with the burning of crops, pushing pollution levels to the extreme. "In any case, it will be hard to beat last year's level," said board scientist Dipankar Saha.
Fireworks would be allowed for up to two hours a day. Online sales have been banned.
Last year, the Supreme Court banned fireworks on the festival after pollutants released by millions of firecrackers forced the closure of schools.
ap / rt (AFP, Reuters)
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