CHENNAI: Post-Diwali, roads in Tamil Nadu's capital city Chennai were left littered with fireworks waste and the air quality dipped to poor early Monday morning.
The apex court order on eco-friendly firecrackers and pollution control board advisory were thrown to the wind as revelry gained the upper hand during this Diwali.
The air quality in Chennai's Arumbakkam was recorded at 260 early this morning. It was recorded at 227 at Royapuram, it was 316 and at Manali and 301 in the Velachery area all in poor and very poor categories.
Remnants of firecrackers, eatables and other such garbage lay scattered on the roads of Chennai's Kolathur, Villivakkam, Koyambedu and Perambur areas.
As per the Supreme Court's orders, only eco-friendly green firecrackers were permitted across the country with time slots. The guidelines issued stated that a fine would be imposed on anyone bursting crackers at unstipulated times.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had earlier issued an advisory, allowing people to burst crackers during Diwali but within allotted timings.
According to the advisory, people are allowed to burst crackers between 6 am to 7 am and 7 pm to 8 pm.
However, the apex court's order and pollution control board advisory were flouted as sound pollution rose to indescribable levels in Chennai on Sunday evening.
Similarly, several other cities across the country woke up to polluted, haze-filled and smoggy air quality owing to the post-Diwali revelry on Sunday.
Firecracker waste lay accumulated on the streets and roads of India's high-tech industry centre, Bengaluru post-Diwali celebrations.
Meanwhile, Delhi-NCR's air quality significantly deteriorated post-Diwali, falling into the 'Poor' category.
Air pollution levels can be high during the winter months for a number of reasons, including dust and vehicular pollution, dry-cold weather, stubble burning, burning crop residues after the harvest season and commuting.
Cold air is denser and moves slower than warm air, so it traps pollution and doesn't whisk it away. This means that air pollution in winter remains in place for much longer than during the summer.
(With inputs from Online Desk)