Heavy goods vehicles are not allowed to enter the Indian capital until 21 November and the inhabitants are invited to work at home.
Le Monde with AFP
The capital of India suffocates. A dangerous level of air pollution forced Tuesday, November 16 in the evening, the New Delhi government to close its schools until further notice and invite residents to telecommill.
Saturday, the municipality had already ordered the closure of schools for a week and forbids any site for four days.
populated by at least 20 million inhabitants, the Indian capital is the most polluted territory in the world, according to a report of the Swiss organization IQAIR Posted in 2020, because of its factories, road traffic and agricultural fires on each winter.
Heavy goods vehicles are not allowed to enter the city until 21 November, with the exception of those who transport essential products, and most shipyards have been interrupted, also announced the commission charged. Air quality in Delhi. At least half of the officials will have to work at home and private sector employees are invited to do the same.
Smoke from agricultural burns
Pollution fog lights and sprinklers will take action at least three times a day in the most polluted neighborhoods.
Six of the eleven thermal centers located within a radius of 300 kilometers were also requested to stop working until further notice.
These measures intervene twenty-four hours after the decision of the Government of Delhi to resist a call launched by the Supreme Court to “a containment due to pollution”. This pollution comes, among other things, from smoke from agricultural burns in neighboring states. The Government had argued, however, with the Supreme Court that the industry was the main factor of pollution, followed by transport and dust emanating from roads and construction sites.
This week, the level of fine particles PM2.5 – the most dangerous for health – has exceeded 400 in several districts of the city. Last week, he climbed 500, thirty times the maximum limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to the Lancet Medical Review, in 2020, nearly 17,500 people died in Delhi due to air pollution.