‘Celebrating 1,000 AQI in Gurgaon’: Baaraat lights firecrackers on road. Watch

As Delhi-NCR continues to choke on toxic air amid rising pollution, a video showing a wedding procession bursting firecrackers on road has gone viral on social media. The minute-long clip, which was shot from a Gurgaon resident’s balcony, shows the pollution in the area with a dense haze hanging in the air.
In the zoomed in footage of what appears to be a baaraat procession on the road, a group can be seen lighting up a series of firecrackers. The firecrackers are shot into the sky and emit plumes of smoke, adding to the already hazardous air.
“AQI is 999 and people are bursting crackers in Gurgaon?! What even is happening rn,” read the caption of the post. (Also read: Delhi AQI stays ‘severe’ as city records season’s lowest temperature at 11.2°C)
Social media was angry at the visuals as users slammed the wedding procession for adding to the already toxic air with the firecracker smoke. “They are celebrating 1000 mark of AQI in Gurgaon. Feat never achieved before by any global city!” said one user in a mocking tone, while another added, “It’s like celebrating halloween with zombie themed decorations on house while an actual zombie apocalypse is going on.”
Some users asserted that people have given up and just want to have fun. “Nobody is doing anything for pollution. People usually get married once in a lifetime, why would they bother about others? We as a society failed. Now stop the moral policing and let people enjoy the rest of their small life left after inhaling this air,” read one comment.
(Also read: ‘Looks like Chernobyl’: Photo of murky, yellow sky from Noida balcony goes viral)
Some even compared the video to a scene in the TV series Chernobyl where a group of residents walk up to a bridge to watch the nuclear facility burn down, unaware of the disaster that is to follow. “Don’t know why but this video has same energy as the scene from Chernobyl series. Everyone enjoying, not having a slightest clue what is going to happen to them,” they said.