NEW DELHI: With rising poisonous smog surpassing 60 times the WHO’s recommended daily limit, schools in India’s capital, New Delhi, moved to online instruction on Monday till further notice.
The issue has not been adequately addressed by a number of fragmented government measures, and the smog is primarily responsible for the health of the elderly and children, contributing to thousands of early deaths annually.
A large area of northern India was covered with pollution, and visitors to the Taj Mahal in Agra were taking pictures of the almost perceptible white marble structure.
“For the past few days, my eyes have been burning,” claimed 30-year-old Subodh Kumar, a rickshaw puller. He stopped eating at a roadside booth and stated, “Pollution or no pollution, I have to be on the road, where else will I go?”
“Our livelihood, food, and life are all in the open; we don’t have the option to stay indoors.” Every year, the city is covered in toxic haze, which is mostly caused by industry, traffic emissions, and stubble burning by nearby farmers to prepare their fields for plowing.
Delhi closes schools due to a “death trap.” Megacity choked by haze
Based on samples gathered over a five-year period, The New York Times reported last month that hazardous vapors were also emanating from a power plant that burned trash from landfill waste mountains. According to IQAir pollution sensors, levels of PM2.5 pollutants, which are harmful microparticles that cause cancer and enter the bloodstream through the lungs, peaked at 921 micrograms per cubic meter around noon on Monday. The WHO considers a measurement of more than 15 in a 24-hour period to be unhealthy.
Even greater amounts were recorded by individual monitoring stations; one government-run monitor measured PM2.5 particles at 1117 micrograms, which is 74 times the WHO maximum. New Delhi was engulfed in thick, gray, and pungent fog, which IQAir described as “hazardous.”
