Ambient Air Quality during Diwali Festival over Chennai

Authors

  • Soundarya. N, Chethan Kumar. G

Abstract

Diwali is celebrated in India as the festival of lights and fire- crackers form an integral part of the celebrations. Crackers contains hazardous substances like Potassium, Manganese, Sodium, Barium, Aluminium, Sulphur and other metals. When crackers are burst all these chemicals are released into the air by creating excessive levels of pollution. Chennai lies near the Bay of Bengal and is gifted with heavy wind speeds which can blow away pollutants thereby reducing the amount of pollutants taken in by the people living there during Diwali. Despite being blessed with a windy condition pollutants tend to rise during this festival. Especially PM10 levels increased the fear among officials in Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). Hence, to combat this from the year 2014 a series of measures were incorporated year wise to reduce the level of pollutants during the festival days.  This study has collected data Pre Diwali and on the day of Diwali and have compared with the increase in pollutant levels and also have compared with the previous year to understand the effect of the regulatory measures imposed. The understanding of the trends is necessary to curb the pollution levels during Diwali in future and also to educate people to avoid fire crackers which in turn cause harm to themselves and the environment.

Published

2020-11-01

Issue

Section

Articles