New Delhi’s air pollution prompts United to halt flights

New Delhi officials will lobby Monday for a plan to ration the use of private cars amid a grimy cloud of pollution so foul that United Airlines has halted flights to India’s capital, while many residents wore masks for their Sunday strolls.

Many schools have been closed since the toxic air descended on the region nearly a week ago. The government has banned most construction and industrial activity. Most trucks and heavy vehicles have been parked. Residentswere urged to stay inside and wear masks outside.

“It comes inside the house, even if you close your windows,” Shyami Sodhi, a Delhi resident, told Sky News. “It’s difficult to breathe.”

A pollution crisis is nothing new to the region. The city is teeming with old cars, trucks and motorbikes unimpeded by mitigation technology. And in spring and fall, the noxious clouds from debris burned outside the city can hover for weeks.

Britain’s government has issued an advisory to travelers that “severe air pollution is a major hazard to public health in Delhi.”

United Airlines spokesman Jonathan Guerin said the airline is monitoring advisories as the region combats a “public health emergency.”

“United temporarily suspended our Newark- Delhi flights due to poor air quality concerns in Delhi and currently has waiver policies in place for customers who are traveling to, fromor through Delhi,” Guerin said in a statement.