Since perhaps the days of its inception, Diwali has remained the festival of lights. And crackers have been associated with it later on. But it feels like Diwali always had the word crackers adjoined with it. That is the mentality that exists within the masses. The cracker-free eco-friendly Diwali drive was a big failure.

Delhi was covered in smog on Wednesday night. The air quality deteriorated to ‘very poor’ right after Diwali. The Supreme Court order for the reduction in the number of firecrackers being ignited was blatantly ignored.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 302 at 11 pm. It soon fell into the very poor category according to the reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The air quality started deteriorating from 7 pm onwards. The AQI was 281 at 7. It rose to 291 at 8 pm. The AQI further rose to 294 at 9 pm and 296 at 10 pm.

The Supreme Court had allowed the bursting of crackers only from 8 pm to 10 pm on Diwali and other festive days. It had also allowed the manufacture and sale of only “green crackers”, which have a low light and sound emission and less harmful chemicals.

But even after the order came from the top court, violations were reported from many parts after 10 pm. Several areas showed spikes in air pollution. Areas like Anand Vihar, ITO and Jahangirpuri recorded very high pollution levels.

Violations of the Supreme Court order were reported from bustling places like Mayur Vihar Extension, Lajpat Nagar, Lutyens Delhi, IP extension, Dwarka, Noida Sector 78 among other places. The police said that there were violations, adding that they would take serious legal action against those violating the top court order.

It is truly difficult for the government to serve its purpose if people don’t follow orders. And it is virtually impossible to punish thousands of people. Thus, this year’s cracker-free eco-friendly Diwali ended in a failure.