India: Delhi shuts primary schools as hazardous smog worsens

All major institutions in Delhi may close according to worsening air pollutants, officials have announced.

In a post on X, the Indian capital’s chief minister, Atishi Marlena Singh, said classes will move online until further notice due to a thick smog that has enveloped the city.

Delhi and the surrounding cities are experiencing amounts of pollutants that are deemed to be harmful to people’s health. The World Health Organization ( WHO ) reported on Thursday that fine particulate matter in the air was more than 50 times higher than that level.

Delhi and northeastern states every face dust during the wintertime due to a confluence of dropping temperatures, dust, dirt, small wind speeds, vehicle emissions and crop stubble burning.

According to IQAir, a Swiss-based Air Quality Index ( AQI ) monitoring group, Delhi had on average 254 pieces of fine particulate matter- or PM 2.5- per cubic metre of air on Thursday. No more than 15 hours in a 24-hour period are healthy, according to the WHO.

Because of this, tissues may be affected by fine particles that can pass through the airways. It can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and recent research has shown that young children may take longer to develop.

More than 10 times the daily amount that the WHO considers safe reached an average of 495 levels of larger particulate matter ( PM 10 ).

Additionally, IQAir’s monitoring suggests that both the neighboring cities of Gurugram and Noida and Chandigarh, in north India, had hazardous air pollutants.

According to nearby advertising, Delhi people have reported breathing problems and eye irritation.

A study published in The Lancet in July found that 7.2% of daily deaths in the city could be attributed to fine particulate pollution.

In the upcoming weeks, air pollution is expected to reduce, but it will still be harmful.

Delhi, which has an estimated 33 million people, has now implemented measures to combat the pollutants, such as spraying streets with water containing dust mites.

Additionally, non-essential design has been prohibited, and people are advised to avoid burning fuel.

But reviewers argue these methods have proven ineffective.

The smog is extensive enough to be visible from space. Recently, Nasa shared satellite imagery showing it stretching across northern India and into Pakistan.

Earlier in the month, air pollution in the Pakistani city of Lahore forced officials to temporarily close its primary schools.