Delhi’s Air Quality Deteriorates to ‘Severe Plus’ Category

The air quality in Delhi, India’s capital, has reached critically high pollution levels, causing respiratory distress among inhabitants and covering the metropolis in dense smog. According to the technology firm IQAir, monitoring devices registered an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 1,500 at 15:00 IST (09:30 BST). This figure is 15 times higher than what the World Health Organization (WHO) deems acceptable for respiration. This hazardous air has led to disruptions in flight operations and had previously compelled city authorities to close educational institutions and prohibit construction activities. This development follows just weeks after Lahore, located in adjacent Pakistan, also experienced pollution readings exceeding 1,000. Furthermore, specialists caution that Delhi’s situation might worsen in the upcoming days, indicating that more stringent actions could be necessary to address the city’s pollution challenge. The WHO states that air with AQI values surpassing 300 is deemed detrimental to health. India’s pollution control agency has categorized Delhi’s air as “severe plus,” following the city’s AQI exceeding 450 based on its measurements taken on Monday morning. In addition to closing schools and prohibiting construction, the city has also restricted the entry of non-essential trucks into Delhi and has requested all workplaces to have 50% of their employees work remotely. In the preceding week, the government prohibited all activities involving the burning of coal and firewood, alongside the operation of diesel generators for non-emergency purposes. Annually, Delhi, India’s northern regions, and portions of Pakistan contend with dangerous air quality during the winter period from October to January. This is attributed to falling temperatures, smoke, dust, reduced wind velocity, vehicle exhaust, and the burning of crop stubble. Despite the government implementing pollution control initiatives each year during these months, Delhi’s air quality issue persists. Delhi’s Chief Minister Atishi declared on Monday that northern India as a whole was facing a “medical emergency” because of the unabated stubble burning occurring throughout the nation, especially in the adjacent states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. She leveled an accusation against the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stating they had failed to implement measures to curtail this practice, even as the issue has worsened over the last five years. Conversely, the BJP has attributed the inability to control pollution in the city to Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Concurrently, Delhi’s inhabitants continue to struggle for breath. “Woke up with a itchy, painful throat.. even two air purifiers are not making the AQI breathable indoors. Children are breathing in gas chamber,” one individual posted on X (formerly Twitter). A different user advocated for a “peaceful mass protest on the streets,” asserting, “The air we breathe is lethally toxic.” For updates, follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our policy on external linking is available.