Drivers and cyclists navigate thick smog in New Delhi on Wednesday. EPA
Drivers and cyclists navigate thick smog in New Delhi on Wednesday. EPA
Drivers and cyclists navigate thick smog in New Delhi on Wednesday. EPA
Drivers and cyclists navigate thick smog in New Delhi on Wednesday. EPA

Delhi pollution: 'Apocalyptic' air engulfs Indian capital as subcontinent chokes on toxic smog


Taniya Dutta
  • English
  • Arabic

Air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels in New Delhi on Wednesday as toxic smog blanketed India, leaving residents of the capital complaining of “apocalyptic” scenes. The crisis also affected neighbouring Pakistan, with at least seven districts recording high levels of pollution.

The average air quality reading in New Delhi reached 366, placing it in the “very poor” category, according to India’s leading environmental authority, the Central Pollution Control Board. Swiss technology company IQAir, which analyses global pollution data, recorded an air quality index of 577 at noon and said New Delhi was the world's most polluted major city. A figure of more than 301 on its scale is considered “hazardous”.

The Indian capital has been enduring dangerous levels of smog in recent weeks as residents set off millions of fireworks for the Hindu festival of Diwali and farmers engage in the seasonal burning of crop waste. In Lahore, a city of 14 million and Pakistan’s cultural capital, the air quality index was recorded at 435 on Wednesday, according to IQAir. The reading was 700 on Tuesday and had on Monday reached 1,200.

“This is an apocalyptic situation,” New Delhi resident Maitri Deb told The National. "Nothing is visible because of this thick blanket of toxic pollution. The eyes are burning and I am feeling discomfort in breathing."

Neighbouring Indian cities were also affected by the smog, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon. Experts say an air quality reading between 400 and 500 on the government's scale is equivalent to smoking 25 cigarettes a day.

The concentration of harmful PM2.5 particles in the air was 332 microns per cubic metre, more than 22 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit, according to IQAir. These fine particles penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream and are blamed for chronic respiratory and cardiac diseases.

Visibility in the morning was down to about 100 metres in New Delhi, according to the India Meteorological Department, as pollutants combined with winter fog and mist, prompting authorities at the city's airport to issue an alert.

“While landings and take-offs continue at New Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may be affected,” Indira Gandhi International Airport said.

CAT III is a navigation system that enables aircraft to land in low visibility.

Authorities have rolled out several measures in recent years in a bid to tackle the smog, including switching to electric buses and at times banning construction. However, air pollution remains severe, especially in November and December.

Last week, Delhi’s Environment Minister Gopal Rai said officials were keen to use cloud seeding to fight the problem in the hope that it would disperse the pollutants.

The Supreme Court this week ruled that it was a “fundamental right” to live in a pollution-free environment and reprimanded the government for a failure to enforce a ban on fireworks over Diwali that the court introduced in 2018.

Children walk a path engulfed in smog in Lahore on Wednesday after air pollution hit record levels this month. AFP
Children walk a path engulfed in smog in Lahore on Wednesday after air pollution hit record levels this month. AFP

Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s third-largest city, reported a reading of 300 on Wednesday, while Multan recorded 293, IQAir said. The two cities are in Punjab province, where more than 40,000 people have reportedly been treated for respiratory ailments since last month.

The UN Children's Fund warned this week that more than 11 million children in Pakistan's Punjab were exposed to health risks due to the unprecedented levels of air pollution. Authorities have closed educational institutions and public spaces for a week as a precaution.

High profile Al Shabab attacks
  • 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
  • 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
  • 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
  • 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
  • 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
  • 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
About Takalam

Date started: early 2020

Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: HealthTech and wellness

Number of staff: 4

Funding to date: Bootstrapped

While you're here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Abu Dhabi Awards explained:

What are the awards? They honour anyone who has made a contribution to life in Abu Dhabi.

Are they open to only Emiratis? The awards are open to anyone, regardless of age or nationality, living anywhere in the world.

When do nominations close? The process concludes on December 31.

How do I nominate someone? Through the website.

When is the ceremony? The awards event will take place early next year.

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Floward%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdulaziz%20Al%20Loughani%20and%20Mohamed%20Al%20Arifi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EE-commerce%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbout%20%24200%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAljazira%20Capital%2C%20Rainwater%20Partners%2C%20STV%20and%20Impact46%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C200%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Mina Cup winners

Under 12 – Minerva Academy

Under 14 – Unam Pumas

Under 16 – Fursan Hispania

Under 18 – Madenat

Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you

You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

Updated: November 13, 2024, 2:38 PM`