Delhi Schools Close Indefinitely as Smog Worsens
Due to severe levels of air pollution, schools in Delhi have been closed till further notice, and the government has advised citizens to work from home and prevented non-essential trucks from entering the Indian city.
Delhi closed down schools until further notice, urging people to work from home and banning non-essential trucks from entering the Indian capital due to critical levels of air pollution.
Clocked in a thick and blinding sheet of smog, the winter scenery in Delhi is as unique as it is horrifying.
Long considered as the most polluted city in the world, it is now struggling to maintain the bare minimum levels of clean air for its populace of 20 million.
On Saturday, the city's government had ordered schools to close for a week and banned construction work for four days.
But in an order passed late Tuesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management for Delhi said all education institutions should remain shut until further notice.
Until November 21, all lorries except those carrying necessary commodities are prohibited from entering the capital, and most building operations have been halted, according to the directive.
"Anti-smog guns" and water sprinklers were ordered to operate at hotspots at least three times a day.
Six of the eleven thermal power facilities within a 300-kilometer radius have been ordered to shut down until further notice.
The commission also recommended that at least 50% of government employees work from home, and encouraged private-sector employees to do the same.
The order comes only days after the Delhi administration fought a Supreme Court order to proclaim a "pollution lockdown," a first in India, which would confine the city's residents to their houses.
Smoke from farmers burning crop residue in neighboring states is one of the sources of air pollution in the winter.
However, the administration told the Supreme Court that the industrial sector was the main source of pollution, followed by traffic pollution and dust.
Primary Sources that are 2.5 microns or smaller, or PM 2.5, levels have reached over 400 in various parts of the city this week. PM 2.5 is the most hazardous particulate matter that causes chronic lung and heart disease.
Last Monday, the levels reached 500, 30 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended upper limit.
A Lancet report in 2020 said almost 17,500 people died in Delhi 2019 because of air pollution.
Moreover, a report by the Swiss organization IQAir last year found that 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities were in India.