Restrictions on bursting of crackers, it seems, has succeeded in bringing down the high-spirited Punjabis who indulged in comparatively less polluted Diwali this year.

With the Government allowing bursting of “only green crackers” for just two hours, the state’s air quality on Diwali day this year recorded a substantial drop of 18 percent in comparison to the previous year.

Punjabis, who are globally known for their over-the-top celebrations, indulged in comparatively “less polluted” Diwali, with the air pollution levels across the state on Thursday recorded in “poor” category at 268. It was better than “very poor” air quality, 328, recorded in 2020 on Diwali day.

“Punjab saw an average AQI reduction of 18.3 percent from the last year,” said a senior official of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).  “The maximum AQI was recorded at Jalandhar this year with AQI category ‘very poor’. However, the last year maximum value of AQI was observed in Amritsar,” said the official, adding that the minimum AQI for this year was recorded in Mandi Gobindgarh with AQI of 220 (Poor) against the last year value of 262.

Last year, the AQI of the four cities — Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Patiala — remained in “very poor” category. However, this year, the AQI of only two cities — Amritsar and Jalandhar — remained in the “very poor” category. The maximum AQI reduction was observed in Patiala (27.8 percent) and minimum was observed in Jalandhar (0.3 percent). An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

Notably, Punjab had allowed bursting of only green crackers for two hours — 8 pm to 10 pm. However, sale and use of any kind of firecrackers had been prohibited in the cities of Mandi Gobindgarh and Jalandhar from midnight of October 28-29 to the midnight of December 31, 2021, and January 1, 2022, as the average AQI for November in Mandi Gobindgarh and Jalandhar has remained in “poor” category.

“The Punjab Pollution Control Board thanked the people of the state for following the advisory issued with respect to time for bursting of fire crackers and using the green crackers for celebrations of Diwali festival, resulting in overall improvement in Air Quality,” said PPCB member secretary Karunesh Garg. The state Pollution Control Board has installed six Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Patiala to monitor the ambient air quality on a real time basis.