The air in October is already under pressure
By mid-October, the air over most north Indian cities is caught between two seasons. The monsoon's cleaning effect is gone. Cold air has not yet arrived to flush pollutants upward. What stays near the ground is a thickening mix of vehicle exhaust, construction particulates, and the first wisps of stubble burning from Punjab and Haryana. The Central Pollution Control Board has recorded some of its highest 24-hour PM2.5 averages of the year in the October-to-November window, before Diwali even arrives. Ravana Dahan falls into this window.
