On Friday, New Delhi was covered in a thick layer of hazardous haze, causing several schools to close due to the worst air quality index (AQI) in the world.
Lower temperatures, quiet wind, and agricultural stubble burning in neighboring farm states have raised air pollution, officials warned.
As the AQI hovered near 480 in several monitoring sites, many of the capital’s 20 million people complained of eye irritation and itching throats. The air turned a dense grey.
Good AQI is 0-50, while 400-500 affects healthy people and threatens those with diseases.
“In my last 24 hours duty, I saw babies coughing, children coming with distress and rapid breathing,” Delhi doctor Aheed Khan wrote on Twitter.
Reuters witnesses reported fewer people at jogger-friendly areas like Lodhi Garden and India Gate.
Residents bought air purifiers, and one service center reported new filters were anticipated on Monday due to scarcity.
Officials reported no immediate air quality improvement.
“Stubble burning, slow wind speed, and cooling temperatures will keep this pollution level high for two to three weeks,” warned Delhi Pollution Control Committee head Ashwani Kumar.
After harvesting in October, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh farmers burn crop trash to clean their fields before sowing winter crops a few weeks later.
The cricket World Cup hosted by India has been overshadowed by rising air pollution in Mumbai, the financial center.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka play a World Cup match in Delhi on Monday.
New Delhi topped Swiss organization IQAir’s real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities on Friday, with an AQI of 611 in the ‘hazardous’ category, followed by Lahore at 277.
Junior schools in New Delhi were closed on Friday and Saturday, but those in the suburbs were open. Children had to wear masks they had stored since the COVID-19 outbreak on their school buses.
