{
  "id": 20103274,
  "title": "Tome And Plume: Dryness Drives Insects Away, Smoke Blots Out Celestial Bodies",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/15/tome-and-plume-dryness-drives-insects-away-smoke-blots-out-celestial",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-15T02:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/tome-and-plume-dryness-drives-insects-away-smoke-blots-out-celestial-bodies"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Bhopal, a city that once offered clear skies and twinkling stars, the presence of smoke from firecrackers and petrol has obscured the celestial bodies. A few years ago, the moon and stars were visible to the naked eye, but now, a thick grey smoke hangs over the city. Commuters have mistaken this smoke for clouds, causing a brief moment of fear. The city's ecological balance has been disturbed, and the absence of seasonal insects has raised concerns. The dry weather and lack of post-monsoon rain have caused seasonal moths and green leafhoppers to stay away, as they require post-wet season conditions to breed and flutter around lights. Additionally, rapid housing expansion and industrialization have led to the loss of green cover, further affecting the insect population. The combination of dry weather, heavy smoke, heat, and chemical remnants of firecrackers has pushed away the insects from the city. Even at night, the grey-black smoke generated by vehicles fills the sky, obscuring the Milky Way and other celestial bodies. Powerful binoculars are now required to observe these stars, as they were once visible with the naked eye. The once clear sky has become a thing of the past, and the city's environment has been choked by fuel smoke.",
  "summary": "Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A tender night, a clear sky, the bright moon, and twinkling stars remain behind a curtain of smoke generated by firecrackers and petrol in Bhopal these days, but it was not so a few years ago. The celestial bodies were visible to the naked eye. The above lines of Keats sprang to mind the other day, when a patch of thick sulphur-laced grey smoke was wafting over the Jail…",
  "key_points": [
    "Smoke from firecrackers and petrol obscures stars in Bhopal",
    "Dry weather and lack of rain drive insects away",
    "Grey-black vehicle smoke fills sky, hiding Milky Way"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}