Delhi schools shut as air pollution turns severe

Authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, have shut all primary schools for two days amid worsening levels of air pollution. Air quality in the city dropped to severe levels for the first time this season on Thursday. It is expected to deteriorate further in the next two weeks, according to experts.

Delhi’s environment minister has called an emergency meeting to review the situation. The Indian capital is one of the world’s most polluted cities.

Delhi’s air turns incredibly toxic in winter due to various factors, such as burning of crop remains by farmers, low wind speeds and bursting of firecrackers during festivals.

The city’s air pollution peaks from 1-15 November when the number of stubble-burning incidents in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana increase, studies by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee showed.

On Thursday evening, the concentration of PM2.5 – delicate particulate matter that can clog lungs and cause a host of diseases – exceeded the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre by seven to eight times in several parts of the city and its suburbs, according to government data. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal soon announced that all government and private primary schools in the city would remain closed on Friday and Saturday. As part of the third phase of its Graded Response Action Plan to combat the effects of increased pollution, a central pollution control panel ordered an immediate ban on non-essential construction work in the city. In the second phase implemented last week, all public transport services, including the Delhi metro and electric bus services, had been instructed to increase their frequency to check vehicle emissions. Last month, the Delhi government put a comprehensive ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of firecrackers within the city. The practice has been in place for the last three years.