A festival in grey

Diwali, and Delhi is again awash in grey. Smoke from crop stubble and fireworks burdens the cold air, thick with emissions and construction dust.

arun

Arun Kumar | December 7, 2018 | Delhi


#stubble burning   #crop burning   #environment   #air quality   #pollution   #Delhi pollution  
Text by SB Easwaran
Text by SB Easwaran

Diwali, and Delhi is again awash in grey.

 
Smoke from crop stubble and fireworks burdens the cold air, thick with emissions and construction dust. Moods hasten towards the sombre, time slows to leaden dreariness. 
 
People breathe uneasy.
 

Delhi Pollution
A lone cyclist is punished for his mite against pollution: the poisoned air chokes him with every breath.(Rajpath)

Lodhi Road
A display board screams ugly words and figures.
Doctors murmur a grave analogy: to breathe in Delhi is to smoke 20 cigarettes a day.
Can the message be clearer?
Or darker?(Lodhi Road)

Rajpath
The glow of morning is sooted over like the panes of a streetlamp in a dirty yellow nocturne.
An early crow holds back a caw of doom.(Rajpath)

environment
(Faridabad)

Faridabad
Fireworks cackle, hiss, jeer and roar at the supreme court’s impossible two-hour restriction.(Faridabad)

Lodhi Garden
A morning walker risks his lungs.
Most masks are rip-offs, costing too much but doing little. (Lodhi Garden)

air quality
An apocalyptic smog defiles the cityscape.
People drift like ghosts.
The air robs them of years.(Rajpath)

Comments

 

Other News

Why civilization is a precarious thing

The Decline of Hindu Civilization: Lessons from the Past By Shashi Ranjan Kumar Rupa Publications, 416 pages, Rs 995

End of an era: BJP poised to rule Mumbai after 25 years

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance was set for a decisive victory in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, consolidating its dominance across Maharashtra’s urban landscape. As per the latest trends from the vote counting on Friday afternoon, the state`s ruling coalition was leading in 19 of the

Startup India initiative: A decade of building India’s innovation backbone

* With over 2 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups as of December 2025, India stands firmly as one of the world’s largest startup ecosystems. * A decade of Startup India has built a full-lifecycle support system spanning ideation, funding, mentorship, and scale-up. * Around 50% of DPIIT-r

How toll policies are redefining the highway journeys

With the phenomenal growth in National Highways, queues at toll plazas used to affect commuters. However, over the last decade, tolling has undergone a major technological transformation, bringing faster movement and significant ease for road users. Building on this progress, year 2025 saw further people-c

From vulnerabilities to empowerment: Building resilience for small and marginal farmers

India’s small and marginal farmers are at the centre of a paradox in agrarian economy. They are the backbone of the food economy, but they are the most vulnerable stakeholders within agricultural economy. Among the 126 million farmers in India today, nearly makes 86% operate on small and marginal hol

Concerns over Mumbai air pollution ahead of Marathon

Environmental organisation Awaaz Foundation has flagged serious concerns over deteriorating air quality in Mumbai and the potential health risks it poses to participants of the Tata Mumbai Marathon scheduled for January 18. It has urged civic and pollution control authorities to conduct advance air quality


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter