New Delhi gasping as air quality reaches severe levels, enveloping

NEW DEHLI – India’s capital was left gasping this week as air pollution smog reduced visibility to near zero and raised air quality levels more than 130 times safe limits.

SAFAR, India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences Air Quality Early Warning System, showed severe air quality over the capital territory on Monday, with a current air quality index (AQI) near 500. According to the forecast, air quality will remain very poor through the rest of the week.

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SAFAR is warning everyone in Delhi to stay indoors and avoid all activity outside.

Dehli Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said schools were forced to close because of the pollution.

According to international air quality site IQAir, New Dehli had the worst air quality in the world this week, more than 136 times the World Health Organization’s safe breathing values.

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Neighboring Pakistan had the second-worst air quality on Monday, according to IQAir. Both countries have been plagued by pollution and smog-filled skies in the past week.

Commuters ride along a street engulfed in smog in Lahore on November 18, 2024. The air quality in Pakistan’s smog-choked city of Lahore on November 17 fell below the threshold considered “hazardous” for humans for the first time in two weeks. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP) (Photo by ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)

Northern states in India face poor air quality during this time of year, but this week’s chokeout comes after government officials said they have reduced the agricultural practice of stubble burning, one of the leading contributors to smog. The practice is common when farmers burn leftover straw “stubble” once grains have been harvested.

Weather is also a contributing factor to the air quality. When stubble burning happens in winter, the cooler air traps smoke.

Gopal Rai said in a news conference Monday that stubble burning in the Punjab region in northwest India had dropped from 47,000 incidents in 2022 to 7,500 after a concentrated effort.

Original article source: New Delhi gasping as air quality reaches severe levels, enveloping India’s capital in smog

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