Heaps of burnt crackers, mithai boxes and wrappers added to the waste generated in the city on Diwali.

Air pollution has gone up by almost three times on Diwali day this year compared to 2011 and Vijay Nagar has emerged as most polluted area of the city.

The campaigns for a ‘Green Diwali’ did not seem to have much affect on city residents who celebrated a noisy Diwali this year, noticeably increasing pollution levels.

Notwithstanding the awareness drive for celebrating Divali in an eco-friendly manner, the air pollution level recorded on the occasion witnessed an increase as compared to the previous year.

Despite a campaign by Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for a safe and soundless Deepavali, the noise and air pollution levels shot up during the three-day festival in most areas of the City, including silent zones.

The highest noise level was recorded in Yelahanka New Town, categorised as an industrial zone. On November 13, it recorded 84 dB (decibel), an increase of 14 per cent compared to the recording on a normal day. City Railway Station recorded the highest air pollution with an increase in Sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide and Carbon monoxide levels, registering an average of 72 per cent increase in air pollutants on all the three days.

The problem of garbage clearance has been compounded due to an increase in the waste generation in the City during Deepavali.

Although the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had claimed that it would deploy additional trucks and pourakarmikas to clear garbage during Deepavali, heaps of garbage were seen lying uncleared in commercial as well as residential areas of the City. Garbage has not been cleared for the past three days in crowded areas such as K R Market, Avenue Road, Cottonpet, Ragipet and Balepet in the central business district and residential areas of Basavanagudi, Malleswaram, K R Puram, Indiranagar and Koramangala.

For a city already troubled by noise pollution, the Deepavali night further took the malaise to new levels, especially in residential areas, anti-pollution control boards have found.

The Central Pollution Control Board had instructed the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board to measure noise levels on November 6, when the twin cities were just getting into a festive mood, and November 13, the Deepavali Day.

This Diwali night saw a rise in air pollution levels in some pockets of the Capital while noise levels declined compared with last year, according to an air-noise pollution assessment report released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Wednesday.

A senior CPCB official said: “The rise in air pollution can be attributed to adverse meteorological conditions -- decrease in average temperature, low wind speed, and increase in humidity -- in and around Delhi and the fact that people probably burst more smoke-producing crackers.”