Delhi trapped under blanket of toxic air
A toxic smog shrouding New Delhi persuaded many students to stay home rather return to schools that reopened on Monday (8) as authorities eased restrictions imposed when the Covid-19 pandemic first struck India in March last year.
Meanwhile, one of India’s holiest rivers was coated with toxic foam on Monday, adding to the woes of New Delhi residents.
The Yamuna is already one of the most polluted waterways in the country but parts of the river, which courses through the center of Delhi, were coated in mounds of white foam resembling snowfall.
The city government blamed the blight on ‘heavy sewage and industrial waste’ discharged into the river from further upstream last week.
It did not deter several Hindu worshippers from taking a dip in the river to mark Chhath Puja, a four-day festival to offer prayers to the sun.
But the pollution did disrupt water supply to part of the city, according to local officials, who did not say how many households had been affected.
New Delhi has the worst air quality of any capital city, but even by its standards the past few days have been extraordinarily bad.
For air to be deemed safe, the Air Quality Index (AQI), which has a scale of 500, should be below 50. In New Delhi on Monday, it was 385, well into hazardous territory. That was a marginal improvement on the 451 registered last week as moderate winds helped disperse some of the pollution.
While some schools had resumed classes for higher grades, pupils aged 14 and below were allowed back for the first time on Monday as part of a staggered re-opening. But many schools reported poor attendance on the first day back due to parents fears over the hazardous air and the coronavirus risks.
Airborne particles of pollution can cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases such as lung cancer. And, in India, toxic air kills more than a million people annually.
The severe deterioration in air quality during the past week was caused by farmers violating a ban on stubble burning in agricultural states surrounding the capital and people ignoring a ban on fireworks to celebrate Diwali.