India’s pollution control board on Friday called for states and entities to remain in “full readiness” to address worsening air pollution conditions in New Delhi, caused primarily by a drop in temperature velocity and wind.
A thick haze of toxic smoke hangs over the Indian capital, exacerbated by an increase in the burning of agricultural waste on neighboring farms.
This reduces visibility and the Air Quality Index (AQI), which has reached 470 on a scale of 500, according to the council. This level of pollution means that the air will affect healthy people – and can seriously worsen the condition of those with existing diseases.
According to the pollution board’s “Graduated Response Action Plan,” air quality that remains “harsh” for 48 hours should prompt states and local agencies to impose emergency measures that include school closures, specific restrictions. to private cars and the interruption in works.
In a circular published Friday night, the council said the government and private offices should reduce their use of private transport by 30% and advised city residents to limit outdoor exposure.
“Weather conditions will be highly unfavorable for the dispersion of pollutants by November 18, 2021 in light of light winds with calm conditions at night,” the council said.
Earlier this week, local authorities ordered the closure of potteries, increased the frequency of mechanized cleaning and the control of garbage and waste burning.
The concentration of poisonous PM2.5 particles averaged 329 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The government prescribes a “safe” PM2.5 reading of 60 micrograms per cubic meter of air over a 24-hour period.
PM2.5 is a unit small enough to travel deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and can cause serious respiratory illness, including lung cancer.
“This is becoming a nightmare,” said Gufran Beig, director of the founding project of SAFAR, an air quality and climate monitor, which is under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
“The fire count is in the 3,000 to 5,000 range and it’s not decreasing,” Beig told Reuters, referring to stubble fires from crops in regions around the capital.
India’s efforts to reduce the burning of agricultural waste, a major source of winter air pollution, spending billions of rupees over the past four years, have done little to prevent a sharp deterioration in air quality.
Delhi, often ranked as the world’s most polluted capital, faces extremely poor winter air due to burning crop residues, transport emissions, out-of-town coal-fired power plants and other industrial emissions, open-air garbage burning, and dust.
(Translated text. Read the original in English here).
Reference: CNN Brasil
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