Air pollution in India’s capital Delhi has risen to critical levels, suffocating residents and shrouding the city in thick smog.
Monitors recorded pollution levels of 1,500 at 15:00 IST (10:30 BST), according to technology company IQAir – 15 times the level the World Health Organization (WHO) considers satisfactory for breathing.
The toxic air disrupted air services, and had prompted authorities to close schools and ban construction in the city.
It comes weeks after Lahore, in neighboring Pakistan, also recorded pollution levels above 1,000.
And experts warned that the situation could worsen in Delhi in the coming days, saying tough measures may be needed to combat the city’s pollution problem.
According to the WHO, air with an Air Quality Index (AQI) value of more than 300 is considered dangerous to health.
India’s pollution control chief described the air in Delhi as “extremely severe”, after the city crossed 450 on Monday morning.
Along with closing schools and halting construction work, the city has also banned non-essential trucks from entering Delhi and asked all offices to ask 50% of their employees to work from home.
Last week, the government banned all activities involving the use of coal and wood, as well as the use of diesel generators for non-emergency services.
Every year, Delhi, the northern states of India and parts of Pakistan battle with dangerous air during the winter months of October to January due to worsening temperatures, smog, dust, low wind speeds, vehicle emissions and heartburn.
And every year, the government puts in place measures to control air pollution during these months.
However, Delhi’s pollution problem is not over yet.
On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said the entire north of India was facing a “state of emergency” due to the ongoing communal fires across the country, especially in the neighboring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
He blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not taking steps to stop this practice despite the fact that the problem has intensified in the last five years.
The BJP, too, has blamed Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for not being able to put a check on the city’s pollution.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Delhi continue to pant.
“Woke up with an itchy, sore throat.. even two air purifiers don’t make the AQI breathed in the house. Children are breathing in a gas chamber,” one user wrote on X (ex-Twitter).
One user called for a “peaceful mass protest in the streets”. “The air we breathe is deadly poisonous,” he wrote.
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