NEW DELHI: Authorities in New Delhi ordered primary schools to shut, and told schools to stop outdoor activities for older children as air in the world’s most polluted capital had become a severe risk to health.
A filthy smog forms over the Indian capital every winter as cold, heavy air traps con-struction dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from crop stubble burning in neighbour-ing states, causing a surge in respiratory illnesses among the city’s 20 million people.
As the air quality index (AQI) topped the 400-mark, putting most districts of the capi-tal territory in the \\“severe” or “hazardous” category on Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal instructed schools to take action and warned that more measures could be introduced to restrict the number of vehicles on the roads.
India’s federal pollution control board has banned the entry of diesel trucks carrying non-essential goods into the capital, while Delhi’s administration suspended most construction and demolition work in the region earlier this week.
Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said going forward 50 per cent of Delhi gov-ernment employees would be told to work from home, and he urged private firms to take similar steps.
On Thursday, the local authority in Noida, a satellite city, ordered all schools to con-duct online classes for students up to the eighth grade.
The decision to shut some schools came after concerned parents and environmental-ists took to social media, and residents complained of discomfort in breathing and ir-ritation in the eyes, nose and throat.
Healthy people can be affected, and those with existing health conditions are at great-er risk when the AQI rises past 400, the federal government warned.
According to data compiled by the Swiss group IQAir, New Delhi has been the world’s most polluted capital for the past four years.
Data from Google Trends showed a spike in searches for ‘air purifiers’ in the past cou-ple of days in the city, as residents look for ways to breathe cleaner air.
India’s National Human Rights Commission asked the chief secretaries of the neigh-bouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to provide details by Thursday on measures taken to combat the alarming pollution levels. –Agencies
