Delhi, India: For the first time this winter, monitors rated air pollution caused by fireworks and farm stubble burning as “hazardous” in India’s capital on Wednesday.
Over 30 million people live in New Delhi, which is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most polluted urban areas. Health professionals claim that the poisonous smog that kills thousands of people each year causes commuters to cough while walking to work, but few people in the sprawling city wear masks.
On Wednesday, a foul-smelling mist covered the city’s renowned India Gate monument. Teacher Mamta Chauhan, 27, stated, “These days, if you want to go out, you can’t even think about leaving without a mask.”
“The level of pollution is very high and there is a persistent foul smell.” New Delhi is covered in harsh brown haze every year, principally accused on stubble consuming by ranchers in adjoining areas to clear their fields for furrowing.
The World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit for fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5 pollutants, which enter the bloodstream through the lungs and can cause cancer, was nearly 23 times exceeded.
Monitoring company IQAir reported on Wednesday that the pollutants reached a concentration of more than 344 micrograms per cubic meter. As a result, the city’s air was classified as “hazardous,” making it the worst in the world.
Air pollution is expected to get worse during the Hindu festival of lights, which is on November 1 this year and features dangerously toxic fireworks.
