NEW DELHI, Nov 3 (Reuters) – India’s capital New Delhi was blanketed by a thick layer of poisonous haze on Friday, and a few faculties have been ordered closed because the air high quality index (AQI) plummeted to the worst stage for any main metropolis on this planet.

A mixture of decrease temperatures, nonetheless wind and crop stubble burning in neighbouring farm states has brought about a spike in air pollution, officers stated.

Many of the capital’s 20 million residents complained of irritation within the eyes and itchy throats with the air turning a dense gray because the AQI hovered round 480 in some monitoring stations.

An AQI of 0-50 is taken into account good whereas something between 400-500 impacts wholesome individuals and is a hazard to these with present illnesses.

“In my last 24 hours duty, I saw babies coughing, children coming with distress and rapid breathing,” Aheed Khan, a Delhi-based physician stated on social media platform X, previously referred to as Twitter.

There have been fewer individuals within the metropolis’s parks comparable to Lodhi Garden and India Gate, well-liked with joggers, a Reuters witness stated.

Residents snapped up air purifiers and one service centre for the home equipment stated there was a scarcity of latest filters and contemporary shares have been anticipated on Monday.

Officials stated they noticed no instant enchancment within the air high quality.

“This pollution level is here to stay for the next two to three weeks, aggravated by incidents of stubble burning, slow wind speed and cooling temperatures,” stated Ashwani Kumar, chairman of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

Farmers within the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh sometimes burn crop waste after harvesting in October to clear their fields earlier than they sow winter crops a number of weeks later.

This yr, consideration on the worsening air high quality has forged a shadow over the cricket World Cup hosted by India, with monetary capital Mumbai additionally affected by a spike in air pollution ranges.

Delhi hosts a World Cup match on Monday between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

New Delhi topped a real-time checklist on Friday of the world’s most polluted cities, compiled by Swiss group IQAir which put India’s capital’s AQI at 611 within the ‘hazardous’ class, adopted by 277 in Pakistan’s Lahore metropolis.

While junior faculties within the capital New Delhi have been ordered shut for Friday and Saturday, they have been open within the suburbs and youngsters have been pressured to deliver out masks that had been put away because the COVID-19 pandemic and put on them as they boarded their faculty buses.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.