NEW DELHI: Toxic smog gripping New Delhi grew more intense on Thursday (Nov 16) as farm fires raged in nearby fields despite a court-ordered ban, making India’s capital the world’s most polluted city again.
Pollution levels have risen since earlier this week after a brief respite and further mitigation measures are being discussed, but a plan to make rain via cloud seeding to battle the smog has been pushed back due to unfavourable weather.
The city held the top spot on a real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities on Thursday, with an air quality index of 509 around noon, according to Swiss group IQAir which categorised the air quality as “hazardous”.
A north-westerly wind blowing over the city is carrying smoke from farm fires in nearby fields and the wind speed within Delhi is light and unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants, a meteorological department official said on condition of anonymity.
There were more than 2,500 farm fires in Punjab state on Wednesday, north of Delhi, as farmers defied a Supreme Court-ordered ban on crop residue burning and the local police warned of legal action against them, The Indian Express newspaper reported.