- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
WITH the air quality in New Delhi remaining dangerously poor and more children have landed in hospital with breathing problems, authorities have been found hunting a solution frantically. Apart from extending closure of schools, the government has now decided to temporarily shut five power stations run by coal.
The Indian capital, which is home to 20 million people, was the world’s most polluted city for the third straight year in 2020, according to IQAir, a Swiss air-quality technology company, and the quality of air has reached hazardous levels and in other parts of northern India in November, Reuters reported.
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The sun struggles to penetrate the smog even on cloudless mornings and several landmarks even some distance away remain barely visible.
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The number of children with respiratory complaints has gone up sharply, leaving their parents and doctors concerned about their health both in the short and long term.
Arvind Bountra, head of paediatrics at Max Super Speciality Hospital in the capital told Reuters that the number has increased threefold in the past seven to 10 days.
“This is directly linked to high levels of pollution that the city of Delhi and NCR are witnessing….” Bountra said. NCR is the National Capital Region that includes Delhi’s satellite cities.
Prolonged exposure to pollutants, including lead, could cause serious complications. According to Bountra, “There is some study that shows that the cognitive functions of the brain (among kids) are also affected by these very small particles.”
On most days, the Air Quality Index (AQI) has stayed over 451 on a scale of 500, indicating “very poor” and “severe” conditions that affect even healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases, as per the guidance of the federal pollution control board.
India’s Supreme Court has criticised the government over its alleged failure to mitigate pollution to give the people relief. It has also asked the Commission for Air Quality Management, a panel under the federal ministry of environment, forest and climate change to implement measures to reduce pollution.
The commission shut down the coal-powered plants around New Delhi following the top court’s intervention; put a ban on trucks carrying non-essential goods and even halted construction in the national capital and its satellite cities.
The panel has extended the closure of the schools after the Delhi government ordered them to close down for a week last weekend. It also asked half of the government employees to work from home until November 21.
India’s efforts to curb the burning of crop waste, a major source of air pollution in winter, have not helped, despite spending billions of rupees over the past few years.
