The morning after Diwali in Delhi rarely smells like celebration. The faint perfume of marigolds and sweets lingers in the air, quickly overpowered by a dense haze that blankets around the city like a stubborn guest refusing to leave. For many families, this year’s festivities ended not with sparklers, but with sore throats and itchy eyes.
Yet amidst the smog that has enveloped the city, a quiet resolve is taking shape in — a promise that next year’s Diwali will shine not through firecrackers, but through lights, food, and flowers.
We want joy, not smoke
In Noida sector 94, the Bhatia family’s Diwali tradition of bursting crackers on the terrace came to an abrupt halt this year. “My daughter’s cough wouldn’t stop last night,” says Neelam Bhatia. “We realised the irony — we were celebrating the victory of light over darkness while choking on our own air.”
Instead of fireworks, the Bhatias spent the evening decorating their balcony with diyas and fairy lights, inviting neighbors over for a potluck dinner. “We didn’t miss the noise,” says Rakesh Bhatia. “The kids lit sparklers for five minutes and burst a few crackers, then went back to the table for gulab jamun. It felt more like Diwali — not a competition to see who burns more crackers.”
It’s a sentiment echoed across the NCR this year. Though crackers were burst with gusto across the city after the ban was lifted, some sections of the population chose to celebrate Diwali with eco-friendly decorations, flower-petal rangolis, and family gatherings that replaced firecracker marathons.
Policy vs. practice
Despite Supreme Court-mandated rules on allowing the bursting of green crackers, the enforcement on ground level was left wanting. “This year, PM 2.5 levels soared to 675 µg/m³ — the highest since 2016,” says Sunil Dahiya, director of Environcatalyst, a think thank that concerns itself with environmental issues. “Even though green crackers are designed to produce 30% less particulate matter, the sheer volume of fireworks burst this year exceeded the benefits of green crackers".
In the days preceding the festival , the PM 2.5 hovered between 90-100 µg/m³ — well above the Indian standard of <60 µg/m³ — and monitoring stations across the cities , recorded peaks as high as 1,100 µg/m³, with many sensors failing altogether. Dahiya points out that stubble burning is only part of the story. “Crackers are not the only reason for pollution — industrial and transport emissions release huge amounts of harmful gases year-round.”
Festival reimagined
At Rajouri Garden, families are out early — walking, chatting, and, as one man jokes, “trying to inhale something other than nitrogen dioxide.” Among them were the Raos. Their 12-year-old daughter, Nidhi, had convinced them to celebrate this Diwali with just flowers, diyas, and homemade sweets. “She came back from school with a pledge card,” and made us all sign it.” The Raos spent the evening cooking together, exchanging gifts, and creating a small flower mandap outside their house.
“We didn’t have the adrenaline of lighting crackers, but there was calm,” Aruna smiles. “And in that calm, we remembered what Diwali actually means. Experts say if households sustain this behavioral shift, Delhi could witness a cultural and environmental turnaround. Some RWAs are already planning ahead. “We’re proposing a community ‘lights-only Diwali’ next year,” says Rajeev Batra, president of a residential welfare association in Rajouri Garden. “Each block will set up a shared lighting display, food stalls, and folk music — no crackers, no smoke. Crackers will be very minimal".
Is the air quality inching back to normalcy? While the jury is still out on that, back in Noida, Neelam Bhatia looks out over her balcony where diyas in neighbouring balconies still glow faintly. “Next year,” she says, “we’ll make it brighter with lights and laughter. The children deserve to see stars in the sky, not smoke.” It’s a small promise, but perhaps that’s how Delhi will change — not through bans and warnings alone, but through families choosing light over fire, and a government regulating emissions year-round.
