Post-Diwali Drone Footage Shows Delhi Engulfed In Thick Layer Of Smog

Delhi's struggle to breathe the morning after Diwali continued this year too as smoke from firecrackers joined air pollution due to stubble burning in north India to create a thick layer of smog. Drone footage shot this morning captures the haze covering the roads in the national capital and the significantly reduced visibility.

The drone visuals showed the scale of air pollution in the Saket area of the national capital. The layer of smoke blurred the view as the drone moved across the prominent neighbourhood. 

Delhi yesterday witnessed its best Diwali day air quality in eight years, but the Air Quality Index spiked in the evening as crackers rang through the national capital region. This morning, the city woke up to smog and data from the Central Pollution Control Board recorded a spike in pollutants such as PM2.5, known to harm lungs.

A spell of rain on Thursday night had given the national capital some respite from toxic air, but the bursting of fire-crackers has brought it back into the red. The AQI in Delhi this morning was 300, close to the 2022 figure of post-Diwali morning.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has said the severals curbs introduced to contain the slide in air quality will stay for now. Schools have been shut and diesel vehicles have been banned as the government tries to tackle the air emergency.

Earlier, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to people to avoid bursting crackers in view of the air pollution in the capital.

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Myanmar Rebels, Battling Junta, Seek To Control Border With India: Report

Anti-junta fighters in Myanmar's Chin State are trying to gain control of part of the porous border with India, after taking over two military outposts on the mountainous frontier, a rebel commander said, part of a wider offensive against the junta.

Dozens of rebels battled the Myanmar military from dawn to dusk on Monday to overrun two camps next to Mizoram, Chin National Front (CNF) Vice Chairman Sui Khar said.

Spokespersons for Myanmar's military and India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Myanmar's generals are facing their biggest test since taking power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts.

The military-appointed president last week said Myanmar was at risk of breaking apart because of an ineffective response to the rebellion - the most significant fight back since the 2021 coup deposed the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Generals say they are fighting "terrorists".

The offensive, named by rebels as "Operation 1027" after the date it began, initially made inroads in junta-controlled areas on the border with China in Shan State, where military authorities have lost control of several towns and more than 100 security outposts.

"We are continuing our attacks in northern Shan State," said Kyaw Naing, a spokesperson for the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which is part of the operation.

Fighting also erupted on two new fronts this week, in the western states of Rakhine and Chin, which sent thousands of people fleeing to Mizoram.

About 80 rebels mounted attacks on Rihkhawdar and Khawmawi military camps in Chin at around 4 a.m. on Monday, eventually taking control of both outposts after several hours of fighting, Sui Khar said.

Following the rebel attacks, 43 Myanmar soldiers crossed over to Indian and were held by security forces in Mizoram, police official Lalmalsawma Hnamte said.

Some 39 of those troops were flown by Indian forces to a border crossing point in neighbouring Manipur and handed over to Myanmar authorities, a security official said on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to share details of the incident.

The Home Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Sui Khar and the Chin Human Rights Organisation said they believed some of these soldiers may have been involved in atrocities against civilians. They did not elaborate.

Chin rebels will now look to consolidate their control along the India-Myanmar border, where the Myanmar military has two more camps, Sui Khar said.

"We'll move forward," he told Reuters, "Our tactic is from the village to the town to the capital."

Chin State, which had been largely peaceful for years, saw fierce fighting after the 2021 coup by junta leaders with thousands of residents taking up arms, many of them assisted and trained by the CNF.

In part due to close ethnic ties, tens of thousands of people from Myanmar have sought shelter in Mizoram, including ousted Myanmar state and federal lawmakers.

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"Calm Now, But...": Mizoram Top Cop On Border Situation Amid Myanmar Crisis

The central intelligence agencies are keeping a close watch as the gunbattle in Myanmar triggered a fresh influx of refugees in Mizoram.

Around 5000 people from Myanmar have entered Mizoram following a fresh airstrike by the Myanmar army in the bordering areas along the Indo-Myanmar border.

A senior official confirmed that Mizoram police, along with central intelligence agencies, are keeping a close watch on the situation. The centre is trying to identify the exact number of Myanmar nationals who have crossed the border.

"Due to difficult terrain of Indo-Myanmar border it is difficult to stop the influx completely. Assam Riffles Guard the borders but a stretch of around 150 km is very difficult because of its nature and other complexity," an official said.

The official added that "after the tension escalated in Myanmar, many Myanmar nationals entered the bordering district Champhai by crossing over International Border. Few injured Myanmar nationals are under treatment at the district hospital in Champhai".

"Local authorities are in touch with these people and they have been assured that they will go back as the situation normalises in Myanmar. We are keeping close watch on the situation in Mizoram. The state was already on high alert due to the recently held elections," the official informed.

Lalbiakthanga Khiangte, Inspector General of Police, Mizoram Police told ANI that so far nearly 5000 refugees had crossed over into Mizoram from Myanmar.

"Now there are as many as more than 5,000 people took refuge in two Mizoram villages along the Myanmar border," the IGP said, adding that many got injured. "As many as about 20 are injured. Eight of them are taken to Aizawl for better medical treatment and the rest are being treated in Champhai. Now it is quite calm, but we don't know whether the Myanmar army will attack from the air. We cannot rule out air strike at present if the Myanmar government is willing," the IGP of Mizoram said.

In year 2021, the Centre had written to the Chief Secretaries of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh to "take appropriate action as per law to check illegal influx from Myanmar into India."

Myanmar's military junta is facing its biggest test since taking power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive in late October, capturing some towns and military posts, Reuters reported.

Last week, the military-installed president said that Myanmar was at risk of "breaking apart" because of an ineffective response to the rebellion. As per Reuters, the new combat will be another blow for the junta which is increasingly stretched amid mounting armed opposition, fuelled by anger over the coup and crackdown.

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Water Shortage, Overhead Wires: Firefighters Struggle To Douse Delhi Fire

Lack of water, low-hanging electricity wires and the problem of onlookers who get in the way of rescue operations; these are some of the challenges that firefighters faced while trying to douse a blaze in an east Delhi building on Tuesday that claimed the life of a woman.

A major fire broke out at a five-storey building in East Delhi's Shakarpur killing a 40-year-old woman, Anita. Twenty-five people were rescued by the Delhi Fire Service.

"After getting message at around 1.05 am, we initially sent three fire vehicles to the location. As the fire was major five more fire engines were pressed into service. Later, more than 20 fire engines were rushed to the spot as the flames engulfed the entire left side of the building," Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg told PTI.

The major challenges the DFS had to face was that there was no water source at the spot so fire vehicles struggled to refill.

"A large number of people thronged to the location just to see that what is happening. Our teams had to repeatedly request people to give them space so that they could rescue people and rush them to nearby hospitals," Garg said.

"Low lying electricity wires, electricity lightings due to Diwali festival and narrow streets are also major problems we faced during our rescue operation," the DFS chief said.

He added that another major problem the fire department faces is traffic. But since the Shakarpur incident happened late at night, there was no traffic on the street, Garg said.

"Beside that spectators must understand that in emergency conditions like fire they must stay away as firefighters need proper space to help others. In such conditions, LPG cylinders can also blow and the fire can engulf the entire area. These locations are densely populated and people's safety too is a concern," Garg added.

Initial inquiry revealed that a fire broke out due to a short circuit in the parking area on the ground floor. According to the police, the fire started in the building's parking area in the early hours of Tuesday and soon engulfed the entire structure.

Around five people jumped from the balcony in panic to save their lives. A man, Naresh Nagar, suffered a fracture in his leg after jumping off the first floor of the burning building.

Police have registered an FIR in connection with the incident and launched an investigation.

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