Toxic Delhi air causes breathing troubles for Redditor; netizens suggest him to ‘leave city for at least 2-3 weeks’

Delhi residents woke up to heavy grey haze darkening the city skies, reduced visibility and the air quality in the ‘red zone’ on Tuesday morning as many Delhiites choose to celebrate Diwali by bursting firecrackers beyond the two-hour limit set by the Supreme Court.

According to a Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) bulletin, Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 359, in the ‘very poor’ category, at 11 am. It was 352 at 8 am, 346 at 5 am, 347 at 6 am and 351 at 7 am.

Toxic air in capital city spiralled to more than 23 times the United Nation’s daily health limits on October 21.

‘Don’t disturb someone’s right to breathe clean air’

Troubled by the deteriorating air quality in the city, a Redditor complained of breathing problems due to firecrackers. In the viral post, he said, “Delhi’s AQI is absurd. It is peaking at 1800ish AQI. I’m having breathing problems due to this s**t. People are still bursting crackers like crazy.”

The man, who clarified that he is a Hindu by religion, said that people come up with stupid arguments of “Tumko Diwali ke din hi yaad aata hai AQI?” and said, “Well, fire-crackers weren’t a part of Deepawali’s celebrations in the first place. Light a diya and enjoy your Diwali. Is it so hard to light a diya and celebrate with your loved ones and maybe not disturb someone’s right to breathe clean air?”

He also noted that they then start another argument, saying “ye sab toh fire-cracker se thodi ho rha hai? Ye toh vehicular emission ki wajah se ho rha hai! Ye toh parali Jalane se ho rha hai! Fire-crackers se kuch nahi hota!”

But, the Redditor asked, why does the AQI peak to unreasonable numbers during Diwali? “Then tell me, why is the AQI peaking at 1800s when the AQI was around 200-300 yesterday? Please, have some common sense.”

Requesting “common sense” from people, the Redditor asked, “Is it so hard to have some empathy for people who are suffering from asthma and other breathing problems?”

Here’s how netizens reacted:

“Fire cracker ho parali ho gaadi ho jo bhi hai theek karo na. Blame game chalta rehta hai,” said several equally frustrated social media users.

“I had to pop a paracetamol at 7 pm and another one just now because pollution triggered a massive headache. It sucks to be nauseous on a festival. I can never have it in me to enjoy at the expense of other people’s happiness and health,” a user shared.

Noting the worsening air quality in Delhi, netizens flooded the comment section with suggestions for the Redditor and said that the only thing he can do right now is leave Delhi for at least 2-3 weeks or invest in a really good air purifier to make living inside the home bearable.

“The best option is to leave Delhi either permanently or at least for 2-3 weeks during Diwali. I left on Saturday. Started leaving in this period from 2024 it’s the best decision if you can do this have remote work option or if you can take leave,” a user said.

“Or just try your best and ask for work from home, stay indoors, get a bunch of N95S if you’re going outside your house, and minimise that, make that investment in getting an air purifier and seal your house,” the user added.

A user highlighted that on Twitter, he saw too many people or “possibly bots” supporting bursting crackers. “To the point I saw comments saying keep bursting crackers, don’t let anyone sleep, we will show the government what we think of curfews and restrictions.”

One netizen noted that people criticise celebrities and politicians who run campaigns to not burst crackers to avoid pollution, “without realising that at the end of the day, it is WE the common people who have to suffer the consequences”.

However, a user said, “We will burst for another fifteen days, use ear plugs and mask, hum tho phatake phodenge hi.”