Pollution Research Paper

MEASUREMENT OF SHORT TERM POLLUTION DUE TO FIRECRACKER EPISODE DURING DIWALI, 2016 AND 2017 AT ARESIDENTIAL SUBURB IN DELHI

CHARU TYAGI, N.C. GUPTA* AND KIRANMAY SARMA

Abstract

Every year during Diwali in India fire crackers are burnt, which cause air pollution due to the addition of harmful gases, heavy metals, particulate matter(PM) and carbonaceous content into the atmosphere. Delhi experienced the most dreadful smog during Diwali 2016. Spike in the pollutant concentrations due to bursting of fire crackers combined with low wind speed and resulted into the worst situation in the city. During Diwali 2017, a ban was imposed on the sale of fire crackers in Delhi, keeping in mind the previous year’s scenario. In this study, Black Carbon(BC), which is one of the major pollutant from fireworks burning has been monitored for two consecutive years along with other pollutants and meteorological parameters. BC that results from incomplete burning causes acute health ailments and affects the climate by direct or indirect ways. Under the light of the fact, present study has been carried out to examine the impact of firecracker burning on BC mass concentration that has been studied less for such episode. BC concentration duringDiwali episode was notably higher than normal days. Diurnal variation in BC exhibits peakconcentration during morning and evening hours due to traffic density, ambient temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. High positive correlation has been observed between BC and PM2.5and both the pollutants had reported an instant surge in their concentration during Diwali. Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) also reported an increase on Post-Diwali days due to the retention of pollutants in the atmosphere. Concentration of BC, PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 was found to be less during 2017 Diwali episode. As per the present study, major source of BC during Diwali was burning of firecrackers. Although Diwali festival is a short-term episode but the exposure to high pollutant concentration even for few days can cause serious health disorders among the inhabitants in the city.