Pollution in Delhi at double hazard level

New Delhi – New Delhi woke up to a choking blanket of smog yesterday as air quality in the world’s most polluted capital city reached hazardous levels.

The US embassy website said levels of the fine pollutants known as PM2.5 that are most harmful to health reached 703, well over double the threshold of 300 which authorities class as hazardous.

Delhi’s air quality typically worsens ahead of the onset of winter as cooler air traps pollutants near the ground, preventing them from dispersing into the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as inversion.

Firecrackers set off for the Diwali festival add to the toxic mix created from diesel engines, coal-fired power plants and industrial emissions.

The problem is exacerbated by the burning of crop stubble after the harvest in north India. The Central Pollution Control Board said high levels of moisture in the air and lack of wind meant emissions had become trapped in the environment.

The hashtag #smog was the top trending topic on Twitter yesterday as angry residents demanded stronger anti-pollution measures.

The World Health Organisation in 2014 classed New Delhi as the world’s most polluted capital, with air quality worse than Beijing. A report in the Lancet last month said pollution had claimed 2.5 million lives in India in 2015, the highest in the world. –