City’s air quality plunges after agricultural fires set

The Indian capital’s air quality levels plunged to “very poor” on Friday and a smoggy haze settled over the city, days after the state government initiated stricter measures to fight chronic air pollution.

The Air Quality Index in New Delhi rose past 270, according to SAFAR, India’s main environment monitoring agency, after agricultural fires in neighboring states sent smoke billowing across the city. The World Health Organization deems anything above 25 as unsafe.