New Delhi is ghastly right now.

So much so that the government in the national capital has shut down 1,800 schools for the first time ever, forcing a million students to stay at home to avoid breathing in the deadly smog that continues to shroud the city. This comes a week after firecracker residue from the Diwali festivities pushed the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) into the red zone.

Levels of particulate matter (PM) 10 and PM2.5 hit 844 µg/m3 and 588 µg/m3 respectively on Nov. 06, according to data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), which monitors air quality. That’s shockingly above the safe limits of 100 µg/m3 and 60 µg/m3 respectively, and suggests that things have only worsened since last week when the “severe” pollution advisory was issued.

“Pollution has increased to an extent that (the) outdoors in Delhi are resembling a gas chamber,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Nov. 06.

Residents have taken note, lining up in the hundreds to buy masks. On Nov. 06, many even gathered at Jantar Mantar to protest, calling on the government to declare the situation a national emergency.

The road to hell

Delhi ranks among the world’s most polluted cities, thanks in part to its enormous population of around 25 million and the over 8.8 million vehicles that ply on its roads every day (an estimate from March 2015).

And now, choked by a deadly cloud of smoke, visibility has reduced to just 200 metres. The city has witnessed several road accidents due to this over the past few days.

Over the past few weeks, the crisis has been complicated by a peculiar annual agricultural practice in neighbouring states.

“Fireworks during Diwali marginally added to the pollution… But other things inside Delhi did not drastically change. So the smog is mainly due to smoke from farm fires,” Kejriwal said.

Every year around this time, farmers in Punjab and Haryana—the predominantly agricultural states to the west and northwest of Delhi—burn the leftover straw in their rice and wheat fields. This is the cheapest way to prepare the land for the next season of sowing. However, winds blowing from these states carry the smoke from these vast farmlands to Delhi, adding to the national capital’s already high PM levels.

Now, with no winds blowing over Delhi, the stagnant particulate matter is smothering the city. And the result is a crisis that is the worst in 17 years, the culmination of Delhi’s decades-long struggle against pollution.

Making (foggy) history

At the time of India’s independence in 1947, fog in Delhi was rather rare. In fact, in 1951, only one foggy day was reported between the winter months of December and February. By 1996, there were 46 days and, by 2013, there were 74.

Things worsened in the early 1990s with rapid urbanisation and growing vehicular traffic—particularly of those with diesel engines. Suspended PM hit a high of 409 µg/m3 in 1995.

Three years later, India’s supreme court urged the Delhi government to act, forcing buses and three-wheelers to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG), a more environment-friendly option. The results were clear. By 2000, PM levels dropped to 190 µg/m3 and continued to fall for several years, reaching 161 µg/m3 in 2007.



This phase, however, did not last. With the number of vehicles rising relentlessly, PM levels jumped once again by 2008.

“The problem is that while emission norms were made more stringent and pollution levels dipped, the increase in vehicles skewed the matter,” A B Akolkar, a member of India’s Central Pollution Control Board, told the Indian Express newspaper last year.



And that set the stage for Delhi’s current crisis.

Emergency measures

In January this year, the Delhi government had introduced an “odd-even” to regulate the city’s vehicular traffic. This involved allowing vehicles ending with even and odd numbers to ply on alternative days. The plan was tried again in April. The results have at best been mixed.

Now, as part of its drastic measures, the government is likely to fall back on such a plan again.

On Nov. 06, it imposed a temporary ban on construction and demolition of buildings and the use of diesel-powered electricity generators. It also plans to vacuum clean the city’s streets and has begun sprinkling water to settle the dust.

Yet, the damage to the city’s reputation and the serious financial cost it implies, will be difficult to fix. With children and the elderly being the worst-affected, many Indians and expats are already moving out.

In 2013, the World Bank estimated that environmental degradation could cost India’s economy more than $80 billion per year. Delhi could definitely be the worst-hit as years go by, with property prices tanking and productivity levels falling.

For now, this crisis poses a particular problem for the government of India. It coincides with British prime minister Theresa May’s arrival in Delhi to kick off her first bilateral mission outside of the European Union. In 2015, when the city welcomed US president Barack Obama with a toxic haze, it drew flak. One report even warned that the president could lose around six hours of his life by spending just three days in the capital of Asia’s third-largest economy.

For all of the Narendra Modi government’s big plans to portray India as the continent’s shining star, the national capital’s toxic air suggests that the more things change, the more they remain the same.</s>Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog A Delhi policeman stands guard at the war memorial India Gate engulfed in a thick smog in New Delhi, India, on November 6, 2016. Hide Caption 1 of 7

Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog Protesters wearing protective masks take part in a rally urging immediate action to curb air pollution in New Delhi on November 6, 2016. Hide Caption 2 of 7

Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog Schools in the Indian capital have been closed for the three days as the city struggles with one of the worst spells of air pollution in recent years. Hide Caption 3 of 7

Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog Young Indian runners take part in the New Delhi 10K Challenge amid heavy smog on November 6. Hide Caption 4 of 7

Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog Indian women walk as smog envelops the Jama Masjid Mosque in the old quarters of New Delhi on November 3. Hide Caption 5 of 7

Photos: New Delhi chokes on smog Indian commuters walk through the smog in the old quarters of New Delhi. Hide Caption 6 of 7</s>A Delhi policeman stands guard at the war memorial India Gate engulfed in a thick smog in New Delhi, India, on November 6, 2016.

Protesters wearing protective masks take part in a rally urging immediate action to curb air pollution in New Delhi on November 6, 2016.

Schools in the Indian capital have been closed for the three days as the city struggles with one of the worst spells of air pollution in recent years.

Young Indian runners take part in the New Delhi 10K Challenge amid heavy smog on November 6.

Indian women walk as smog envelops the Jama Masjid Mosque in the old quarters of New Delhi on November 3.

Indian commuters walk through the smog in the old quarters of New Delhi.

An Indian cyclist rides along a street as smog envelops a monument in New Delhi on October 31, the day after the Diwali festival.</s>NEW DELHI--Authorities in Delhi on Monday closed schools, halted construction work and shut down a major power plant after days of choking smog led to warnings of a health "emergency" in the world's most polluted capital.

Pollution levels have spiked in recent days as farmers in neighboring Indian states burn crop stubble after the harvest and temperatures cool, trapping pollutants in a smoggy haze over the city.

Delhi's air quality generally worsens with the onset of autumn, particularly after the Diwali festival when millions of revelers let off heavily polluting firecrackers.

But this year's change has been particularly dramatic, with the American embassy reporting hazardous pollution levels for several days running.

On Monday morning it put levels of PM2.5 — the fine particles linked to higher rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease — at an off-the-charts 778.

Levels between 301 and 500 are classified as "hazardous," meaning everyone faces a risk of respiratory effects and should stay indoors, while levels above 500 are beyond the official index.

Manan Mahato, who drives an auto rickshaw in Delhi, said he had sent his children to his native village because he was worried about their health.

"It has become risky to stay in Delhi because of the pollution," he said, holding a handkerchief over his mouth because he cannot afford a proper face mask.

"I am sending my children back to the village as I am worried for their health. If it stays like this, I think this city won't be livable anymore."

On Sunday hundreds of people, many wearing face masks, gathered in central Delhi to demand immediate action to curb the pollution levels, currently around 30 times the World Health Organization's recommended PM2.5 safe limit of 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

Long queues formed outside shops selling face masks, a relatively novelty in Delhi as are the air purifiers that now feature in the homes of wealthy residents.

The Delhi government on Sunday announced a series of measures including shutting schools for three days, banning all construction work for five days and the temporary closure of a coal-fired power plant.

It also said it was considering cloud-seeding to produce rain. a technique Beijing used to clear the air before the 2008 Olympic Games.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said the city faced an "emergency situation."

"These temporary emergency measures are critical for bringing down the peak pollution levels," she said.

"Of course this cannot be permanent, you cannot keep people indoors forever," she added.

A 2014 World Health Organization survey of more than 1,600 cities ranked Delhi as the most polluted.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he may reintroduce car rationing in the city after a successful two-week trial earlier this year. But the Delhi government is powerless to stop the mass burning of fields in the nearby states.</s>India’s capital New Delhi announced several measures to combat the crippling smog and air pollution that has engulfed the city, including closing down schools, halting construction and dousing all roads with water, according to a report by NBC News.

New Delhi, considered one of the world’s most polluted cities, saw levels of PM2.5 – tiny particulate matter that can clog lungs – increase more than 900 micrograms per cubic meter on Saturday. That’s 90 times more than the level regarded as safe by the World Health Organization, and 15 times more than the Indian government’s norms.

The Centre for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based research and lobbying organization, stated that government data shows that the smog covering the city for the last week is the worst in 17 years.

Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi’s chief minister, told reporters on Sunday after an emergency meeting:

Kejriwal also said that a coal-fueled power plant on the border of the city would be shut down for 10 days.

Other measures announced include a 10-day ban on the use of all diesel-powered electricity generators, with the exception of hospitals and cellphone towers. All major roads in the city will also be vacuumed clean once a week, starting Thursday.

Kejriwal added that a major contributor to the city’s pollution is crop fires in neighboring states. At the start of every winter season, farmers in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab begin to burn straw from rice paddy crop to clear the fields for planting wheat.

New Delhi’s government has tried a handful of methods to control air pollution over the last few years. The city has implemented stricter emission norms for cars, as well as a tax on diesel-fueled trucks. It also banned the burning of leaves and garbage in the city.

Earlier this year, New Delhi also reduced the number of cars on the roads during the winter months. The city imposed a two-week period in which vehicles were only allowed on the roads on odd or even days, depending on the car’s plate number.</s>Authorities in Delhi on Monday closed schools, halted construction work and shut down a major power plant after days of choking smog led to warnings of a health “emergency” in the world’s most polluted capital.

Pollution levels have spiked in recent days as farmers in neighbouring Indian states burn crop stubble after the harvest and temperatures cool, trapping pollutants in a smoggy haze over the city.

Delhi’s air quality generally worsens with the onset of autumn, particularly after the Diwali festival when millions of revellers let off heavily polluting firecrackers.

Levels between 301 and 500 are classified as “hazardous”, meaning everyone faces a risk of respiratory effects and should stay indoors, while levels above 500 are beyond the official index.

Manan Mahato, who drives an auto rickshaw in Delhi, said he had sent his children to his native village because he was worried about their health.

“It has become risky to stay in Delhi because of the pollution,” he said, holding a handkerchief over his mouth because he cannot afford a proper face mask.

“I am sending my children back to the village as I am worried for their health. If it stays like this, I think this city won’t be liveable anymore.”

On Sunday hundreds of people, many wearing face masks, gathered in central Delhi to demand immediate action to curb the pollution levels, currently around 30 times the World Health Organization’s recommended PM2.5 safe limit of 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

Long queues formed outside shops selling face masks, a relatively novelty in Delhi as are the air purifiers that now feature in the homes of wealthy residents.

The Delhi government on Sunday announced a series of measures including shutting schools for three days, banning all construction work for five days and the temporary closure of a coal-fired power plant.

It also said it was considering cloud-seeding to produce rain, a technique Beijing used to clear the air before the 2008 Olympic Games.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he may reintroduce car rationing in the city after a successful two-week trial earlier this year.

But the Delhi government is powerless to stop the mass burning of fields in the nearby states of Haryana and Punjab.

“We have to save the present generation as well as the future generations from this disaster,” he told AFP.

Sunita Narain, head of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment which has petitioned the Supreme Court to force the government to act, called it a “public health emergency”.

“The situation is very bad. The poisonous air is very harmful for all of us,” she said.

“We hope the court will hear our plea and order the governments to do whatever is required.” The court is due to hear the petition on Tuesday.</s>In addition, construction and demolition work were banned for the next five days, Kejriwal said at a news conference called to announce emergency measures to protect the public from air pollution.

He cautioned that odd-even rationing for vehicles -- in which cars would only be allowed to operate on alternating days depending on their license plate numbers -- could be implemented if the situation does not improve soon.

More than 5,000 schools will be closed. The emergency measures follow a week of unusually high smog levels in the city, which many people blamed on the firecrackers and fireworks set off last Sunday night in celebration of Diwali.

The Air Quality Index from the US Embassy in Delhi measured the city's air quality at 999 at one point on Sunday, a level considered hazardous and more than three times the measured level of 300 in previous weeks.</s>(CNN) Fresh air doesn't exist in New Delhi at the moment.

Measurements taken at the US Embassy in Delhi put the city's Air Quality Index at 999 on Monday, off the standard chart, which finishes at the "hazardous" level of 500.

By comparison, the highest AQI level recorded Monday in Baoding -- China's most polluted city -- was 298.

In Khan Market, one of Delhi's trendiest areas, shops that specialized in anti-pollution masks were doing brisk business as people queued up to buy some modicum of protection from the toxic smog.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered to protest outside Parliament in the city center as others voiced their displeasure online, posting to Twitter with the slogan #MyRightToBreathe.

An emergency ruling issued over the weekend saw more than 5,000 schools closed and construction work halted for the next three days. Officials warned that the number of vehicles allowed on the streets may be restricted if the situation does not improve.</s>Residents and visitors to Delhi are struggling to cope with severe levels of toxic air pollution that have prompted authorities to declare and “emergency situation” in the city.

Locals have expressed their concern over the dangerous smog on Twitter, with some saying they have been forced to take their families out of Delhi due to concerns over their health and others noting that they haven’t seen the sunrise in more than a week due to the haze that clogs the sky.

Delhi is suffering from its seventh consecutive day of heavy smog, which is a result of farmers in India’s northern plains setting fire to their fields combined with revellers setting off firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival.

The toxic haze hanging over the city contains concentrations of harmful particles that are so high they cannot be measured by most air quality instruments.

Using the hashtags #DelhiSmog and #DelhiChokes, residents and tourists posted about their experiences of the pollution on Twitter.

Photographs from the city show heavy smog at ground level.

There was little escape from the toxic cloud, even inside.

Before and after images from the city also paint a stark picture of the crisis.</s>India’s capital New Delhi is choking as pollution has reached its worst level in nearly two decades.

Visibility in the smog-choked city of over 17 million people was down to less than 80 metres earlier this week, with tens of thousands of residents sporting gas masks as they struggled to breathe.

City streets were shrouded in a thick haze of smoke, ash and other palpable pollutants and locals complained of breathlessness, watering of eyes and wheezing. Pollution levels recorded were almost 15 times the permissible limit.

Interminable queues snaked their way through bazaars selling face masks and air purifiers both of which were in short supply, unable to meet rising demand.

Doctors said spending a day outdoors in Delhi was akin to smoking a packet and a half of cigarettes and warned that if these conditions persisted, the atmosphere could turn carcinogenic.

On Monday levels of PM2.5 fine particles – linked to higher rates of respiratory ailments, lung cancer and heart disease – hovered at around 800, compared to normal levels of no more than 60.

PM2.5 levels between 301 and 500 are classified as “hazardous” in which everyone faces the risk of respiratory effects; those above 500 are beyond the official index, as air quality monitors in the city are unable to record beyond this limit.

“We are calling this a pollution epidemic” said K K Aggarwal , president of the Indian Medical Association . It was advising people to stay at home if possible and not venture out into the open.

Delhi’s air quality index generally worsens with the onset of winter, particularly after the annual Diwali festival of lights, when millions of people let off highly polluting crackers. But this year pollution has much more severe than usual, as farmers in neighbouring states burnt crop stubble after the paddy harvest ahead of planting wheat, trapping smoke and pollutants in cooling temperatures.

Fine dust, sand and cement particles from construction sites added to the pollution.

“It’s impossible to breathe normally” said housewife Shakuntla Devi, who plans on moving back to her village in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state until Delhi’s pollution crisis abates. “I feel constantly choked,” she added.

Children and the elderly are the worst affected and city hospitals were struggling to cope with the endless stream of patients suffering from respiratory ailments. “It’s like a war zone with hospital wards full of infants,” said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha.

On Monday Delhi’s government closed all city schools for three days, halted construction activity until the weekend and temporarily shut down a major power plant in a bid to contain the pollution.

City authorities also revoked licences of more than 200,000 diesel vehicles older than 15 years, believing them to be highly polluting, but to little avail, as the capital continued to be blanketed by noxious pollutants.
Schools in Delhi and New Delhi close after smog reach toxic levels. The air quality index is 999 with 500 rated as hazardous.