Indian capital chokes as ‘hazardous’ air pollution returns

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday ( October 23 ), arid clouds engulfed India’s capital as air pollution from farms and fireworks was declared “hazardous” by monitors for the first time this winter.

More than 30 million people live in New Delhi, which is frequently cited as one of the most polluted industrial areas on the planet.

Although some people in the sprawling capital wear masks, travellers who walk to work cough through the deadly dust that thousands of people die annually, according to wellness professionals.

The town’s famous India Gate statue was wreathed in foul-smelling haze on Wednesday.

” These days if you want to go out, you ca n’t think of leaving without a mask”, teacher Mamta Chauhan, 27, told AFP.

The waste level is very high, and there is a constant bad taste.

Every year, New Delhi is covered in noxious smog, largely brought on by farmers in nearby areas clearing their fields for ploughing.

Good particulate matter, or PM2.5 substances, has risen nearly 23 times the suggested daily optimum, which the World Health Organization calls fine particulate matter. These pollutants enter the bloodstream through the airways.

The pollutants topped 344 micrograms per square inch, according to surveillance company IQAir on Wednesday, which listed heat in the sprawling megalopolis as “hazardous”, ranking it as the country’s worst.

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is observed on November 1 this year as part of festivities that include pungent fireworks spewing dangerous contaminants.