Indian capital suffocates as “dangerous” air pollution returns October 23, 2024

A public works Department sprays water against air pollution in the Indian Capital

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Indian capital suffocates as “dangerous” air pollution returns.

Arid clouds enveloped India's capital on Wednesday as air pollution fueled by fireworks and agricultural stubble burning was classified as “hazardous” by monitors for the first time this winter.

Commuters cough amid the poisonous pollution that kills thousands of people every year, according to health experts, although few in the sprawling city wear masks.

The city's famous India Gate monument was shrouded in a fetid haze.

Every year, New Delhi is blanketed by acrid smoke, attributed mainly to the burning of stubble by farmers in neighboring regions to clear their fields for ploughing.

Air pollution is expected to worsen during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, which takes place on November 1 this year, when smoky fireworks that spew dangerous toxins are part of the celebrations.

Levels of fine particulate matter - cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs - rose to almost 23 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.

The pollutants reached 344 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring company IQAir on Wednesday, which classified the air in the megacity of around 30 million people as “hazardous,” ranking it as the worst in the world.

New Delhi ordered a “total ban” on all fireworks, both their manufacture and sale, given the “public interest in reducing high air pollution.”

Previous restrictions were routinely ignored.

The police are generally reluctant to take action against offenders due to the strong religious feelings attached to fireworks by devout Hindus.

The authorities have also banned the burning of stubble, and the Haryana state police this week arrested several farmers for setting fires before plowing the land.

So far, the government's efforts have failed to solve the country's air quality problem, and a study published in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths in 2019 to air pollution in the world's most populous country.

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