Covid-19 cases have increased in Delhi due to the ongoing festival season with a record 7,178 cases being reported in the state on Friday, the highest by any state on the day.
On Thursday, the Delhi government decided to ban firecrackers in the national capital and announced steep fines for any violations.
Delhi has installed anti-smog guns at various locations across the state to spray water droplets into the air, to reduce the level of air pollution. There, however, have been calls for more stringent steps to address the pollution issue.
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a nationalist group close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, said green crackers made locally by nearly a million employed in the factories should be allowed at Diwali, the biggest festival for Hindus, instead of a blanket ban that will destroy the domestic industry.
"Delhi's air stays in severe category AQI. TIme for the govt to look at putting a stop to all construction activities, atleast for a week. Also thermal power plants in the immediate periphery of Delhi shd stop operating," Vimlendu Jha, an environmentalist and founder of an activist group, Swechha, wrote on his twitter page.