The Mundka monitoring station of the Delhi Pollution Control Board recorded a PM2.5 concentration of 3,744 µg/m³ at 2 am on the Diwali night, which is 60 times the standard measure. Yes, you read it right. 60 times. Reports emerged the next day that 93 of the top 100 cities with worst AQI were from India following Diwali celebrations on November 8. AIIMS pulmonologist Vijay Hadda told ANI on November 9, “I am honestly surprised that we are still alive. I do not think this kind of air is suitable for human survival.”

In any country with a functional government, this would warrant the environment minister to at least make a statement, even if not take direct accountability. Not in India.

Union minister of environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav, has remained conspicuously silent on the country’s deteriorating air quality before or after Diwali.

From the days preceding Diwali to four days after the festival when this article is being written, Yadav neither issued a single public appeal urging citizens to responsibly engage in celebrations, nor used his social media handles to spread awareness about the environmental consequences of bursting firecrackers or to address the mounting pollution crisis affecting major parts of the country. 

Did Bhupender Yadav go Missing from Public Platforms?

Far from it. Yadav remained active on social media throughout this period. Between November 1 and November 12, he made 29 posts on his X account. Not one of them addressed the worsening air pollution, deteriorating air quality across Indian cities, or the need for public awareness and precautionary measures.

The days before Diwali are also crucial because pollution levels skyrocketing on the day of the festival and immediately after has become an annual phenomenon. It is reasonable to expect the minister holding the environment and climate change portfolio to make a public appeal ahead of Diwali, more so because firecracker pollution has been a matter of contention and has reached the Supreme Court in recent years.

Clearly, the Alwar MP thinks otherwise.

Modi Reigns Supreme on Yadav’s X Timeline

On November 7, observed as Chhoti Diwali, and November 8, the main day of Diwali, Yadav shared nine posts. These included amplification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Diwali greetings to citizens, Modi’s Diwali celebrations and interactions with jawans at the CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) Operations Base in Karanpur, in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, as well as Yadav’s own festive greetings. 

On November 7, Yadav shared a video of Narendra Modi greeting fellow citizens with wishes for Diwali and shared that, like every year, he would celebrate Diwali with the “veer jawans” of the country.

Thereafter, he shared a video of Uttar Pradesh tourism celebrating Diwali at Ayodhya Ram Mandir.

Subsequently, on November 8, Yadav’s first post was sharing Modi’s write-up wishing L K Advan on his 100th Birthday.

READ: Suvendu calls firecracker critics communists as Kolkata chokes on Diwali pollution

This was followed by a video featuring images of the Hindu deities Lakshmi and Ganesha, accompanied by Diwali greetings to citizens.

The next five posts were devoted to PM Modi’s Diwali celebrations with the security personnel in Bastar, including his interactions with the jawans stationed at the CoBRA base. (View them here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Updates on Political Assignments etc

A review of Yadav’s remaining social media activity during this period shows that he continued to document his political engagements, meetings with public representatives, participation in political programmes and official engagements.

On November 1, Yadav attended the “Save democracy, remove anarchy” rally alongside the Maharashtra chief minister and deputy chief minister. The following day, he met the Governor of Uttarakhand. On November 3, he met Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary in Delhi.

On November 5, he shared another post about his participation in the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ protest in Darbhanga, Bihar. He also posted about his visit to the residence of senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Ravindra Kishore Sinha, where he met Sinha’s son, Rituraj Sinha, and other family members and paid his respects.

On the same day, Yadav addressed the media in Patna on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, alleging that ‘planned attacks are being carried out on the country’s constitutional institutions by the Congress’.

ALSO READ: Mother, should I trust the government? The worst Diwali air in Delhi never made it to CPCB record

On November 9, he attended the funeral of Dr Jaswant Yadav, the MLA from Bahror and former Member of Parliament, alongside the Rajasthan Chief Minister  Bhajanlal Sharma. 

His latest post, on November 12, documented an interaction chaired by him with Indian LeadIT (Leadership Group for Industry Transition) member companies and project partners in New Delhi.

In addition to these engagements, five of Yadav’s posts during the November 1–12 period were dedicated to sharing decisions taken by the Union Cabinet on various policy matters.

Despite maintaining a steady stream of updates on his political engagements, official meetings and public appearances, the environment Mminister’s X account offered no indication of concern over the environmental consequences of the widespread bursting of firecrackers during Diwali. Neither before it. Nor after. 

Incidentally, on October 30, Yadav posted about an integrated command and control centre in Delhi to review and monitor air pollution real-time across Delhi-NCR.

The Firecracker Pollution Debate was Raging Since October 25

As early as October 25, Delhi Police had shared a video on its X handle urging citizens not to burst crackers this Diwali. The post said: “This festive season, let tails wag, not tuck. Say NO to crackers, YES to a greener Diwali.” Soon after it was posted, social media users predicted that it would be taken down. Delhi Police proved them right, deleting the post within hours.

The episode sparked a debate, with a section of the Right-wing putting forward what has become its usual pre-Diwali stance on firecracker pollution: that any call to shun firecrackers or celebrate with restraint is an affront to Hindu faith. The debate intensified when Bengal Police did much the same thing, posting about “responsible celebrations” before deleting the post, and the Mumbai civic body took down a similar post featuring actor Dia Mirza.

Yadav, it appears, has been blissfully unaware of all this.

There were no cautionary appeals ahead of the festivities urging citizens to celebrate responsibly or remain mindful of the deteriorating air quality and the environmental and health hazards associated with firecrackers. Nor did Yadav acknowledge the worsening situation in the aftermath of the celebrations, when several Indian cities were engulfed in thick layers of smog, and the country dominated global rankings of the most polluted cities.

Alt News has reported that on the morning after Diwali, the front pages of all major English dailies were dominated by news about severe air and noise pollution in most cities in north and central India.