Delhi cracker ban led to 18% dip in nanoparticles in 2022: Study | Delhi News

NEW DELHI: A study by Delhi Technological University has asserted that when fireworks were banned for Diwali in 2022, the nanoparticles in the air reduced by 18% from the level recorded during the festival in 2021.
It found that the inhalable nanoparticle concentration on Diwali day in 2021 was around 9.7 million particles, which dipped to around 8.1 million particles on Diwali day in 2022, underlining the positive reduction in nanoparticles in the city due to the prohibition on firecrackers.
Nanoparticle emissions cause deep deposition of pollutants in the human respiratory system and the deposition varies with different physical activities.
The study, titled ‘Are Delhi residents exposed to lesser particle number concentration due to the firework ban in the city?’, was published in journal Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health in Aug.
The research was conducted by a team led by Rajeev Kumar Mishra, associate professor of environmental engineering at Delhi Technological University, Kanagaraj Rajagopal, and Vignesh Mohan, research scholar from the Advance Air and Acoustics Research Laboratory, DTU.
“Delhi experiences severe pollution during the Diwali festival. As a result, the state govt imposed different restrictions on crackers selling and usage, and finally, a policy was framed to completely ban the usage of crackers during the festival.
The research study was conducted by DTU before and after the banning of crackers to analyse the impact of crackers on nanoparticle emissions in Delhi city,” says the study, which established that the nanoparticle emissions in Delhi in the Diwali period, especially particles sized from 10 to 1,000 nanometres, was lower when the ban on crackers was imposed.
“The crackers ban policy helps in the reduction of about 18% of nanoparticle emissions on Diwali day. The nanoparticle emissions cause very deep deposition in the human respiratory system, and the deposition varies with different physical activities.
The inhalable nanoparticle concentration during the year 2021 Diwali day was about 9.7 million particles, and that reduced to around 8.1 million particles during the 2022 Diwali day.
The emission reduction found during Diwali 2022 was around 1.6 million nanoparticles due to the introduction of the firecrackers ban policy,” states the study.
The nanoparticles were measured on DTU’s premises, which is located in the northwest part of Delhi — a mixture of commercial, educational and residential areas.
The study also said identifying the sources of pollution could help achieve clean air goals. “Achieving human health standards for clean air needs more target-based policy implementation.
Identifying the potential sources and introducing policies related to source reduction can help in achieving clean air goals, which is evidenced from the study,” the study says.
“Sustainable development goals emphasise the need for clean air and improving people’s health, which can be achieved globally by effectively initiating mitigation measures and regularly analysing the measure’s performance.”