Delhi and its surrounding regions suffer from acute air pollution as the capital’s air quality degraded to hazardous levels. Citizens woke up to a thick smog, with the city’s air quality index touching dangerous levels: several parts of Delhi reported AQI values close to 500 by Wednesday morning, said IQAir. The pollution levels are about 30 to 35 times higher than the permissible limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Poor air quality is a consistent phenomenon because of the combined factors-from colder winter temperatures to low wind speeds, vehicular emissions, and burning of crop stubble. This annual crisis worsens every year between October and January in Delhi and other northern states. Experts warn this year will see the situation deteriorate further in the coming days.
Delhi, with the added cities of Noida and Gurgaon as its satellite cities, has really gone to a 500 mark of pollution, which brings it to the “severe” category of pollution. The major pollutant here is PM 2.5, which creates a serious health hazard, as these tiny particles even pass through the lungs and lead to various diseases.
WHO guidelines claim that AQI levels up to 100 are safe for respiration. Levels beyond 400-500 are termed “severe.” The thick smog is reducing visibility not only in the region but also causing regular life to be affected, such as delayed and canceled flights due to poor visibility.
Hazardous air quality will also affect the public health. According to a LocalCircles-survey conducted with online communities, 81 per cent of Delhi and NCR families have at least one member who is suffering from health-related issues due to the pollution. More than a third of those polled said they had purchased cough syrup in an attempt to manage the effects of the toxic air.
The smog is so dense that it can be seen from outer space. NASA recently published satellite images depicting a blanket of smog over northern India and its neighbor, Pakistan.
This scenario is alarming given the ongoing struggles to address air pollution in the region, which have disastrous health and environmental implications.
