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India pollution: New Delhi’s air remains ‘very poor’ despite emergency measures

NEW DELHI – Air pollution remained at extremely high levels in the Indian capital on Thursday, a day after authorities indefinitely closed schools and shut down several power plants to reduce smog. city ​​government for several months.

According to SAFAR, India’s main environmental watchdog, New Delhi’s air quality remains “very poor”. The concentration of small airborne particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter – known as PM 2.5 – was close to 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city, it said.

The World Health Organization designates a maximum safe level of 25. Small particles can lodge in the lungs and other organs, causing long-term health damage.

New Delhi, a city of 20 million people, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Air quality often reaches dangerous levels in the winter, when the burning of crop residues in neighboring states coincides with lower temperatures that trap smoke. Smoke drifted to New Delhi, obscuring the sky.

The emergency measures went into effect on Wednesday in an attempt to contain the health crisis.

Schools are closed indefinitely and employees are asked to allow half of their staff to work from home for a week. Several coal-fired power plants outside New Delhi have been ordered to close and construction activities halted.

However, the measures are expected to have little effect.

Meanwhile, the New Delhi state government is weighing whether to shut down the capital after India’s Supreme Court last week sought an “imminent and urgent” action plan to settle the dispute. crisis.

PM 2.5 concentrations spiked to nearly 15 times the WHO safe level for several days in November, and forecasters warn pollution is likely to worsen in the coming days.

The pollution disaster in New Delhi is due to many different causes.

According to the federal government, automobile emissions contribute to nearly 25% of the city’s pollution in the winter. Other sources of air pollution include emissions from industries, smoke from festival-related firecrackers, construction dust, and agricultural burning.

Several studies have estimated that more than one million Indians die each year from diseases related to air pollution.

In 2020, 13 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world are in India, according to Swiss air quality monitoring company IQAir.

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