Delhi closes schools, bans construction as pollution levels skyrocket | Weather News

Schools are going online until further notice due to rising toxic smog, the latest bid to ease the Indian capital’s health crisis.

Authorities in India’s capital have closed schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city after air pollution rose to its worst levels of the season.

A thick blanket of toxic smog enveloped much of northern India on Monday after dense fog overnight, while the “hazardous” air quality in some parts of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi hit a high of 1,081, according to a Swiss group. IQAir live rate.

India’s pollution control official said the 24-hour air quality index (AQI) reading for India was 484, termed “severe plus”, the highest this year.

Experts say the scores differ because of differences in the scale countries use to convert pollutant concentrations into AQI, so the same amount of a certain pollutant can be interpreted as different AQI scores in different countries.

At that time, the concentration of PM2.5 – particles measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter that can be inhaled into the lungs, cause fatal diseases and heart problems – was 39 times the recommended levels of the World Health Organization.

Smog, a toxic combination of smoke and fog, occurs every winter as cold air traps dust, smoke emissions, and smoke from illegal farm fires in some surrounding counties.

Authorities ordered all schools in Delhi to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicular movement, citing efforts to “prevent further deterioration” in air quality. Authorities hope that, by keeping children at home, traffic will be significantly reduced.

“Physical education classes will be canceled for all students, except for class 10 and 12,” said Prime Minister Atishi, who uses only one name, in a statement last Sunday. Similar restrictions were adopted last week.

Many in the city can’t afford air filters, and they don’t have homes to effectively seal off the stench that is said to cause thousands of premature deaths every year. Delhi and its surrounding metropolis, which is home to more than 30 million people, consistently ranks highest in the world for air pollution in winter.

“My eyes have been burning for the past few days,” said rickshaw puller Subodh Kumar, 30. “Dirty or no dirt, I have to be on the road, where else will I go?” he said as he stopped to eat breakfast at a roadside stall.

“We don’t have the option of staying in the houses… our livelihood, our food, our health – everything is transparent.”

Farm fires – where stubble left after the rice harvest is burned to clear fields – have contributed to 40 percent of Delhi’s pollution, SAFAR, a weather forecasting agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said. Satellites detected 1,334 such events in six Indian states on Sunday, the most in the previous four days, according to India’s Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space (CREAMS).

Despite this polluted air, many residents continued their daily activities. Many buildings were not visible, including New Delhi’s famous India Gate as visibility was reduced to 100 meters (109 yards). Authorities said flights and trains continued to operate with some delays.

India’s weather department also predicted “dense to very dense fog” in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan on Monday.

Cooler temperatures and slower winds make the situation worse by trapping deadly pollution every winter, from mid-October to at least January.

India’s Supreme Court last month ruled that clean air is a fundamental human right, ordering the central government and state authorities to take action.