To dissuade people from bursting crackers, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the Delhi government will organise a Laxmi Puja this Diwali and live stream it for people to perform the rituals at their homes. He said this is being done as the Covid-19 situation is worsening because of the rising pollution while appealing to people against bursting firecracker during the festivities to curb the toxic air from worsening.
“Just like last year, this year too we will pledge not to burst firecracker on Diwali. Last year, we celebrated Diwali together as the Delhi government organised a mega light and sound show at Connaught Place’s Central Park. This time also Delhi’s two crore [20 million] people will celebrate together. But this time we will organise a Laxmi Puja on Diwali which will be live-streamed from 7.39pm. We urge people to view the live stream at their homes and perform the same rituals instead of going out and bursting crackers and adding to the pollution,” Kejriwal said at a digital press conference.
Kejriwal said if every household does Laxmi Puja on Diwali, it will create a harmonious and positive environment. He added his cabinet colleagues will join him for the puja.
Kejriwal said Delhi is facing rising Covid-19 cases and pollution levels. “Corona cases are increasing also because of pollution. Every year Delhi’s pollution peaks during this time of the year due to stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. We hope that from next year these states also start using the chemical solution which the Delhi government is using to convert stubble into manure,” he said.
Delhi’s air quality rapidly worsened to the “severe” category with the Air Quality Index (AQI) of 452. AQI between 401 and 500 is considered to be severe, which can impact healthy people and seriously affect those with existing health conditions, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
Delhi reported another single-day record of 6,842 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday. As the daily infections inched closer to 7,000, the positivity rate continued to rise as well. As many as 11.6% of the 58,910 samples tested over the past 24 hours returned positive. Delhi’s positivity rate has been in double digits over the last five days.
