At various points throughout the city last week, pollution levels exceeded 25–30 times the permissible limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Experts have cautioned that the weather, the usage of firecrackers during Thursday’s Diwali celebration, and the burning of crop remnants in neighboring states will make matters worse in the days ahead.
Every year, between October and January, Delhi and a number other northern Indian cities record extremely high levels of air pollution, which disrupts corporate operations and forces offices and schools to close.
Getty Pictures At Raisina, an anti-smog truck is seen sprinkling water on the road to disperse dust particles.
To reduce dust, the Delhi government has sent out tankers to spray water on the roadways.
According to data from the government-run Safar website, levels of PM 2.5, or microscopic particulate matter, which can cause a variety of ailments by penetrating deeply into the lungs, rose to 350 micrograms per cubic meter in some regions on Monday.
The website states that air quality is classified as severe when PM 2.5 levels reach 400–500 and as extremely poor when they reach 300–400.
