NEW DELHI, Nov 20 (Portal) – India’s capital Delhi reopened schools and some construction sites on Monday amid signs of easing air pollution, although air pollution remained classified as dangerous while toxic foam covered sections of the Yamuna river flowing through the city. River polluted.
The world’s most polluted capital resumed its annual battle against pollution this month despite government pledges to make improvements. Monday’s air quality index (AQI) was 336, lower than Thursday’s reading (509), but still “dangerous,” Swiss group IQAir said.
Children wore masks on the way to school to protect them from pollution after a nearly two-week closure, while Hindu devotees celebrating a festival trudged through the smoggy morning to take a dip in the river, undeterred by the white foam , which authorities have described as toxic.
The foam comes from sludge and untreated waste, a former Delhi government adviser said, adding that the city’s water department sprayed a food-grade chemical to control it.
“The foam is not lethal in nature,” said former official Ankit Srivastava, an environmental engineer. “You won’t die from eating it, but you would get sick.”
On Sunday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai told reporters that construction work on public infrastructure projects could resume, but with restrictions on activities that blow dust into the air.
[1/5]Hindu devotees worship the sun god as they stand amid the foam covering the polluted Yamuna river during the Hindu religious festival Chhath Puja on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 20, 2023. Portal/Anushree Fadnavis acquire license rights
These comments followed the lifting of emergency measures ordered on November 5 to prevent deterioration in air quality, including a ban on all construction activity, which were relaxed after index values improved.
According to the government’s air quality early warning system, Delhi’s AQI is expected to fall in the next two days as wind speed is expected to increase.
Air pollution in Delhi gets worse in winter when wind speeds decrease and the cooling air traps pollutants emitted by vehicles, industries and farmers who burn agricultural waste in surrounding states to prepare for new plantings.
Traffic emissions were a major contributor to the 2.5 micron (PM2.5) particles floating in the air on Monday, a real-time study by experts working with the Delhi government found.
The study added that vehicles along a major road produced 51% of these particles considered particularly dangerous to humans, up from 27% and 32% in the last two days, respectively.
PM2.5 levels remained above 128 micrograms per cubic meter of air in the National Capital Region since Sunday, the Federal Pollution Control Board said. Levels have fallen since peaking at 300 on November 5, but are well above the 24-hour average safety limit of 15 set by the World Health Organization.
Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Mumbai and Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.
Acquire license rights, opens new tab