NEW DELHI: New Delhi’s government ordered all primary schools to cease in-person classes until further notice on Thursday night due to worsening smog in the megacity.
New Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops global rankings for air pollution during the winter months.
The smog is blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and is an annual source of misery for the capital’s residents, with various piecemeal government initiatives failing to make a measurable impact on the problem.
“Due to rising pollution levels, all primary schools in Delhi will shift to online classes until further notice,” Chief Minister Atishi announced on the social media platform X.
Schools are often closed during the worst weeks of the annual smog crisis, which also leads to numerous other disruptions across the city.
Authorities regularly impose bans on construction activity and restrict diesel-powered goods trucks from other parts of the country in an effort to alleviate the toxic clouds blanketing the capital.
Grey skies and acrid fumes have made life miserable for New Delhi’s inhabitants this week.
Levels of PM2.5 pollutants—dangerous, cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs—were recorded at more than 50 times above the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum on Wednesday.
New Delhi is covered in acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers elsewhere in India to clear fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.
Cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds worsen the situation by trapping deadly pollutants each winter, which lasts from mid-October until at least January.
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India’s Supreme Court last month ruled that clean air is a fundamental human right, ordering both the central government and state-level authorities to take action.
New Delhi authorities have launched several initiatives to tackle pollution, but they have done little to improve the situation.
A study published in The Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths to air pollution in India in 2019, the world’s most populous country.
The choking carbon smog across New Delhi coincided with warnings from researchers that planet-warming fossil fuel emissions will hit a record high this year, according to new findings from the Global Carbon Project. – AFP
