New Delhi is choking on smog and there's no end in sight
Source: CNN
Residents of India's capital are set to suffer record-levels of smog for at least a week, even as the local government puts in place emergency measures to try and tackle New Delhi's heavily polluted air.
Flights were delayed and diverted from New Delhi's international airport Sunday when pilots could not see through the thick smog, which was more than three times the "hazardous" level on the global air quality index (AQI).
On Monday, the AQI level remained above 800 in certain parts of the city, the worst levels seen in more than three years. The Indian Meteorological Department said that while some of the cooler weather which has been exacerbating the smog will improve in the coming days, it is difficult to say whether this will lead to a substantial reduction in pollution.
A public health emergency has been declared in New Delhi, where authorities have halted work at construction sites and instituted new traffic controls limiting the number of cars on the road. Schools have been closed and most residents who can afford to are staying home, though working class Delhiites are left with little choice but to venture outside.
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/04/india/delhi-india-smog-pollution-intl-hnk/index.html
Apparently, most of the smog is generated by farmers burning post-harvest "stubble".
= new reply since forum marked as read
As Delhi Chokes On Smog, India's Health Minister Advises: Eat More Carrots
November 8, 2019 11:01 AM ET
Kamala Thiagarajan
People cover their faces with masks to avoid thick smog in New Delhi on Nov. 5. People living there have complained about respiratory problems. Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
On Nov. 2, 21 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations in Delhi registered in the "severe" category. Since then, the city has been grappling with its worst-ever pollution crisis. On the Air Quality Index, an international metric used by public health officials that accounts for a range of major air pollutants, any reading above 100 is considered unhealthy. In some areas of Delhi this week, the AQI recorded well over 900 according to daily bulletins by India's Central Pollution Control Board.
This month's pollution crisis has affected many aspects of life in the city. From Nov. 3-5, 32 flights were diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi due to poor visibility. On Nov. 4, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution, Prevention and Control Authority (EPCA) declared a public health emergency and urged the governments of Delhi and other neighboring states to take steps to handle the crisis. Construction activities that could add to the dust in the air were halted temporarily. Schools were shut and government advisories were issued, asking people to stay indoors. Firecrackers have been banned for the remainder of the winter season and factories that hadn't shifted to piped natural gas were temporarily shut down. The Dehli government also reinstated a rule, first tried during another pollution spike in 2016, that cars with even and odd license plates were allowed on Delhi's roads only on alternate days, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until mid-month.
But at the peak of Delhi's pollution, when people all over the city were struggling to breathe, two federal ministers drew wide-spread criticism for tweets that either ignored the problem – or offered a puzzling solution.
India's Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, tweeted that eating carrots would help: "Eating carrots helps the body get Vitamin A, potassium, & antioxidants which protect against night blindness common in India. Carrots also help against other pollution-related harm to health."
Meanwhile, the Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Information & Broadcasting, simply tweeted an encouragement for citizens to "start your day with music."
