Satellite images show toxic smog over India’s north as experts warn of Delhi air ‘disaster’

Delhi announces more curbs as residents continue to inhale toxic smog ‘50 times the safe limit’

Satellite images from Nasa showed the toxic smoke engulfing Delhi was spreading to more areas around northern India as experts warned of an air pollution “disaster” in the nation’s capital.

Images from Nasa Worldview showed a layer of smog covering the plains of northern India on Monday as air quality in various cities around Delhi began dropping to unhealthy levels.

Cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Mathura saw air quality index (AQI) levels rise to 200 or above. Such a ranking is categorised as “poor” in the Indian government’s national air quality monitor.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality has remained the worst in all of north India for the fifth straight day, in the category known as “severe”. Experts warned that the severe air pollution in the national capital “was a disaster like any other extreme event”.

On an Air Quality Index (AQI) scale that measures only upto 500, Delhi clocked levels of 488, forcing the imposition of stricter curbs on the national capital’s 35 million residents who are at the risk of dangerous health impacts.

At one point in Delhi the air quality index exceeded the 500-level mark, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.

AQI in areas of Delhi like RK Puram in the south stood at 466, while in the eastern Patparganj area, this was at 471. These levels are almost 50 times over the safe limit prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Experts said the impact of air pollution is known to be extremely dangerous for children and other vulnerable groups, yet the situation does not receive its deserved focus.

“This level of air pollution constitutes a disaster, like any other extreme event, and should be dealt with the same level of urgency in our action,” said Naveen Thacker, president-elect of the International Pediatric Association (IPA).

A bird’s-eye view of Delhi showed monuments like India Gate barely visible amid the toxic smog. In Agra city, about 242km away, a thick layer shrouded the iconic Taj Mahal.

Many residents on social media said they have been suffering from headaches, watery eyes and choked throats due to the pollution levels.

Delhi’s government on Monday announced a spate of emergency measures. Among them is the annual “odd-even” rule for vehicles, which includes only vehicles ending with either odd or even number plates being allowed on a rotational basis on the roads on different days.

The state government had earlier shut primary schools and halted all construction activities.

The air quality in northern India started dipping last week as farmers in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana started stubble burning in their fields during the crop planting season.

While governments in recent years have tried to incentivise farmers to give away their stubble to authorities instead of burning it, the policies haven’t been effective in curbing the fires.

On Sunday, over 3,000 fires were reported in the agricultural state of Punjab, the highest this season. At least 551 fires were reported in just one city.

The governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana have remained stuck in a blame game over tackling soaring pollution levels that have become a yearly affair during the winter in northern India.

Delhi’s government accuses Punjab and Haryana of not doing enough to curb stubble burning, while Delhi has been consistently accused of not curbing construction activities and tackling vehicular pollution.

“It should be above politics, it’s a question of people’s health,” said Dr Thacker.

Some of the methods deployed by the Delhi government to curb air pollution include protective and mitigating policies like sprinkling of water on roads to reduce dust and building two 80ft high “smog towers”.

The towers that have cost more than $2m each are supposed to clean the air, but have been deemed by scientists to be largely ineffective.

A sheet reading ‘green war room’ is stuck on a window of the designated room at Delhi secretariat (AFP via Getty Images)

Air pollution shortens the average life expectancy of Delhi’s residents by approximately 11.9 years, a recent study compiled by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute said this year.

It also found that over 64 per cent of Indians, approximately 900 million people, live in areas that exceed India’s own national air quality standard, which is more lenient than the WHO limit.

The pollution season is also becoming longer.

This year, the air quality turned poor earlier than expected, with a new statement from non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) suggesting this may be the result of low rainfall in September and October.

On the first week of November on early, the fine particles pollution levels in Delhi reached “severe+” for the first time this season, said the statement.

It was “a sudden and staggering 68 per cent jump within 24 hours”, the non-profit said.

Despite a particularly devastating monsoon that saw several mountainous regions flooded earlier this year, Delhi recorded a 64 per cent deficit in rainfall in October and a 33 per cent deficit in September, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).