India's Capital Chokes in Smog after Firework Ban Flouted

People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
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India's Capital Chokes in Smog after Firework Ban Flouted

People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis
People walk on Kartavyapath near India Gate on a hazy morning in New Delhi, India, November 1, 2024.REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

India's capital New Delhi was wreathed in poisonous smog Friday, with air pollution worsening after a fireworks ban was widely flouted for raucous celebrations for the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali.

New Delhi's traffic-clogged streets are home to more than 30 million people, and the city is regularly ranked as one of the most polluted urban areas on the planet.

The city is blanketed in cancer-causing acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in neighboring regions to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.

But air worsened Friday after a thunderous night of firecrackers lit as part of Diwali celebrations, despite city authorities last month banning their sale and use, AFP reported.

City police had seized nearly two tons of fireworks before Diwali, but the crackers remained readily available for sale in neighboring states.

Many residents celebrated at home, holding a family meal and lighting small candles in praise of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi and symbolizing the victory of light over darkness.

Others launched firework rockets and booming crackers, rocking the densely packed city throughout the night.

Police are often reluctant to act against violators, given the strong religious sentiments attached to the crackers by Hindu devotees.

Critics say arguments between rival politicians heading neighboring states -- as well as between central and state-level authorities -- have compounded the problem.

India's Supreme Court last month ruled that clean air was a fundamental human right, ordering both the central government and state-level authorities to take action.

"Delhi's toxic air is killing us softly with its smog," the Times of India wrote in an editorial last week, as the winter pollution returned.

Levels of fine particulate matter -- dangerous microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surged to more than 23 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.

Soon after dawn, pollutant levels topped 345 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring firm IQAir, which listed air in the sprawling megacity as "hazardous".

It rated New Delhi as worst in the world, just above smoke-choked Lahore in neighboring Pakistan, 400 kilometers to the northwest.

The New Delhi government has previously sought to cut pollution by restricting vehicle traffic, including a scheme that only allowed cars with odd or even number license plates to travel on alternate days.

Authorities have also imposed seasonal bans on construction work and on diesel-powered vehicles from entering the city.

"The gravity of the problem is such that incremental changes are insufficient," The Indian Express wrote, criticizing "an unfortunate lack of resolve from both the centre and state governments."



Snow Forecast Next Week on Mt Fuji, at Last

A sign with a photo of Mount Fuji covered in snow is seen at a view point as Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, looms in the background in Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture on October 31, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)
A sign with a photo of Mount Fuji covered in snow is seen at a view point as Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, looms in the background in Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture on October 31, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)
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Snow Forecast Next Week on Mt Fuji, at Last

A sign with a photo of Mount Fuji covered in snow is seen at a view point as Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, looms in the background in Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture on October 31, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)
A sign with a photo of Mount Fuji covered in snow is seen at a view point as Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776 metres, looms in the background in Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture on October 31, 2024. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)

Japan's Mount Fuji, snowless for the longest since records began 130 years ago, is expected to finally get its famous white cap back next week, a local forecaster said on Thursday.

Snow on average begins forming on Japan's highest mountain on October 2 and the latest it had been detected before this year was in 1955 and 2016, when it fell on October 26.

"Rain is likely to fall temporarily near Mount Fuji on November 6," forecasting website tenki.jp, run by the Japan Weather Association, said on Thursday.

"Cold air will move in and change from rain to snow near the summit," it said. "The weather will gradually clear up, and the first snow on the mountain may be observed on the morning of the 7th."

Another company Weather News also said Wednesday that "the first snowfall is likely to be pushed back to November".

At Lake Kawaguchi, a favorite viewing spot for the volcano, French visitor Hugo Koide told AFP it was "quite shocking to see at this time of year there's no snow."

The 25-year-old, who used to visit the area in autumn in his childhood, said he remembered how Fuji "was always covered by snow."

"I'm rocking up in T-shirt and shorts. It kind of doesn't feel the same," said Australian traveler Jason Le.

"I think that across the globe it is kind of affecting everybody. We're from Australia and what you are seeing is it is getting hotter in the summer months and it's getting colder earlier," he told AFP.

Last year snow was first detected on Fuji on October 5.

Yutaka Katsuta, a forecaster in the town of Kofu's meteorological office, told AFP on Monday climate change may play a role in delaying snowfall, with this year being the latest since comparative data became available in 1894.

"Temperatures were high this summer, and these high temperatures continued into September, deterring cold air (bringing snow)," Katsuta told AFP.

Japan's summer this year was the joint hottest on record -- equaling the level seen in 2023 -- as extreme heatwaves fueled by climate change engulfed many parts of the globe.

Warm weather has been affecting other snowy regions across the globe, with many ski resorts increasingly being forced to confront the realities of a warming climate.

In Japan the city of Sapporo in the normally chilly northern island of Hokkaido, has begun discussing scaling down its famous snow festival due to a shortage.