Air polluted, worse is expected

NEW DELHI — With air quality reduced to “very severe” in the Indian capital region, authorities are bracing for a major Hindu festival featuring fireworks that threatens to cloak New Delhi with more toxic smog and dust.

The government’s Central Pollution Control Board on Friday said New Delhi’s air quality had plummeted to the worst possible category. The level of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter that can dangerously clog lungs, was 187, more than six times higher than the World Health Organization considers safe.

The board warned people to avoid jogging outdoors in the early morning and after sunset, and to keep medicine nearby if asthmatic. It also advised people to wear masks as a precaution.

The most recent air pollution data from the World Health Organization released in March gave India the dubious distinction of having the world’s 10 most polluted cities.

India’s capital, which once was the world’s most polluted city, ranks sixth. But experts say the data does not suggest that New Delhi’s air quality has improved, but rather that more Indian cities’ air has worsened.

A Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Authority warned Thursday that air pollution in the capital region is likely to peak from Nov. 1 as toxic fumes from the burning of agricultural fields in the neighboring northern states of Haryana and Punjab could blow in because of a change in wind direction.