NEW DELHI —
Indians throughout the nation started celebrating Diwali, the Hindu pageant of lights, on Thursday amid considerations over the coronavirus pandemic and rising air air pollution.
Diwali is often celebrated by socializing and exchanging presents with household and buddies. Many gentle oil lamps or candles to represent a victory of sunshine over darkness, and fireworks are set off as a part of the celebrations.
Final yr, celebrations in India had been upended by a renewed spike in COVID-19 infections, however festivities this yr appear to be again. Although the federal government has requested individuals to keep away from giant gatherings, markets have been buzzing forward of Diwali, with keen crowds shopping for flowers, lanterns and candles.
As nightfall fell on Wednesday, over 900,000 earthen lamps had been lit and saved burning for 45 minutes within the northern metropolis of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, retaining the Guinness World File it set final yr. As a part of the Diwali celebrations, the town final yr lit 606,569 oil lamps.
The lamps had been lit at Ram ki Pauri, on the banks of Saryu River, a shocking spectacle for hundreds of holiday makers who thronged its shores whereas ignoring coronavirus social distancing norms. A laser and fireworks present adopted, illuminating the town’s lanes and river banks. 1000’s of metropolis residents additionally lit lamps at their homes and temples.
The pageant is being celebrated at a time when India’s pandemic disaster has largely subsided.
On Thursday, the nation recorded over 12,000 new coronavirus circumstances and 461 deaths, a far cry from earlier this yr when India buckled beneath a couple of hundred thousand new infections every single day. Total, it has recorded greater than 35 million infections and over 459,000 deaths, based on the Well being Ministry. These figures, as elsewhere, are doubtless undercounts.
Even states the place infections had been swelling a couple of weeks in the past, equivalent to Kerala alongside the tropical Malabar Coast, have seen a sustained decline. India additionally celebrated administering its billionth COVID-19 vaccine dose final month, additional boosting confidence that life is returning to regular.
Nonetheless, consultants have warned that the pageant season may carry a renewed spike in infections if COVID-19 well being measures aren’t enforced.
There are additionally worries over air air pollution, which usually shrouds northern India beneath a poisonous gray smog at the moment as temperatures dip and winter settles in.
On Diwali evening, individuals additionally lit up the sky with firecrackers — their smoke inflicting air pollution that takes days to clear.
Whereas there isn’t a nationwide ban on bursting firecrackers, quite a lot of states have imposed restrictions to stem the air pollution, with some permitting their residents to gentle inexperienced crackers for a sure variety of hours. Inexperienced crackers produce lesser emissions than regular firecrackers. Up to now, comparable bans have typically been flouted.
——
Related Press author Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India, contributed to this report.
