Indian Festival of Lights made the night sparkle – and air quality to the extreme Otten-Plage in Singapore: “We are in for something unprecedented”

In India the night sparkled and sparkled. Because many Hindus celebrated Diwali – the festival of lights. For the Hindus, who make up the majority of the Indian population, Diwali is just as important as Christmas for many Christians.

Depending on the region, Diwali lasts from one to five days. The main message of the festival is the victory of good over evil, truth over falsehood, light over shadow and life over death. In northern India, Diwali is also New Year’s Day.

The festival is celebrated in different ways in different parts of the Indian subcontinent – with various rituals and mythological references – but for many fireworks and fireworks are just part of it.

To ensure that Diwali does not affect the already poor air quality in the Indian capital New Delhi, Environment Minister Gopal Rai has threatened to set off fireworks. Representatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist ruling party BJP, which sits in opposition in the capital, criticized the impending sanctions.

But: The Festival of Lights has actually had a negative impact on the air quality in New Delhi. Monitoring stations showed values ​​of “very bad” or even “dangerous” on Monday and Tuesday. This means that the particulate matter pollution is many times higher than the limit values ​​set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition to the Diwali fireworks, the reasons for the poor air quality in Delhi in winter are that farmers in the surrounding states burn leftover crops in order to replant quickly and cheaply. There are also exhaust fumes from cars, industry, dust from construction sites and waste incineration.

(yam/sda/dpa)