Due to extreme pollution, schools had to be closed and flights had to be canceled in Delhi.

Pollution in New Delhi remained at environmental alert level this Tuesday, despite the restrictions adopted from Monday, yesterday, after the air quality index (ICA) across the city crossed the critical barrier of 500 points. In some neighborhood meters this figure doubled and even tripled, reaching apocalyptic levels.

Authorities have launched Level 4 of the anti-pollution plan, the strictest of the national protocols, which limits commercial and industrial activities, and instituted online classes and teleworking to avoid travel. Officials also urged children, the elderly and others with chronic diseases or respiratory problems to avoid going out as much as possible.

For weeks now, landing at Indira Gandhi Airport has given us the chance to see the toxic bubble of pollution, dust and smog in the air that surrounds India’s capital. Once on the ground, for a week now, visibility has been gradually decreasing, as of yesterday – reduced to less than a hundred meters – many flights had to be canceled and trains and buses were delayed.

A phenomenon that is likely to worsen over the next two months, with the usual winter fog, made even worse by the use of poor quality coal for heating – still by many – poor citizens, the world’s second highest. The most populous metropolitan area, after Tokyo, with more than thirty million inhabitants.

Many of their neighbors start the day paying attention to expected temperatures, pollution indices at or above expectations. In a city where many hospitals have opened special advisories on its harmful effects. In fact, two out of three households in Delhi report that some of their members have seen their health affected by pollution in recent weeks. Those who can, can make changes to their daily routine and minimize time spent outside or on public transport. Many people are content to consume products – certified or not – that purportedly increase safety.

Some expatriates, who started using air purifiers in the office or home nine or ten years ago when conditions worsened, say it is a losing battle. However this time they have installed a purifier in each room. One-fifth of Delhiites have already done so or plan to do so, but the vast majority cannot afford it, as is the case with air conditioning.

“Still, even inside the house smells like burning,” says one. At these pollution levels it is mandatory to keep doors and windows closed, but the heat does not always permit this. Heat waves, which are becoming increasingly severe, are another scourge of the increasingly overcrowded and less livable metropolis in what is already the most populous country in the world.

Independent meters like AQI.in increased the AQI to 975 yesterday. A level of pollution that causes harm equivalent to smoking 21.7 cigarettes per day and is 60 times higher than the level considered safe by WHO. In many cases, the screen provides a pollution reading of 999 points, for the simple reason that the software is not prepared for a dystopia of more than three points (pollution in Barcelona is considered moderate with 50 points and by 100 it is considered worrying). seems to be happening). ,

In northern India and Pakistan, pollution has become a health emergency: The dense and toxic fog that envelops the city, where 33 million people live, has caused thousands of people to seek medical attention for itchy skin, sore throats, dry coughs, and more. Had to pass out, difficulty in breathing and headache. Furthermore, these levels of contamination reduce protection and open the door to viral fever, exacerbating the previous symptoms and adding fever, pharyngitis, general weakness and even vomiting.

Experts estimate that more than one million people die from pollution-related diseases in the country every year. Living in cities like Delhi or Lahore – a Pakistani city that received an environmental alert a week ago after exceeding 1000 ICA points – takes years off your life. For its long-suffering citizens, the weekend holiday is, first of all, an escape from the gas chamber that requires no other justification.

It must be said that, given the lukewarm response measures, in contrast to the difficult decisions taken in Beijing and other Chinese metropolises more than a decade ago, including closing industries, the population’s anger remains high. There the sky will become blue again. Not so in Delhi, where it is gray – and without stars – except on exceptional days. It is better not to talk about the pollution of its aquifers.

Municipal Corporation officials say that this year they have paved 47 kilometer long roads, which were still dirty. Because dust is everywhere in Delhi – even on the leaves of its trees – and is associated with smoke and fog, that is why it is believed that sprinkling water on the streets is the hand of a saint. Then there is always the option of blaming another administration, preferably for not reining in the farmers, although this is more difficult now, as Delhi and Punjab are ruled by the same Ordinary People’s Party (AAP).

This phenomenon is partly seasonal, but it never misses an appointment and gets a little worse every year. The celebration of Diwali – fifteen days earlier – with its rockets and firecrackers, serves as the opening shot for a toxic smog that increases with stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana as well as the first cold weather, so that This should not happen. Start clearing, at a minimum, by February.

Playing sports outside has a very bad effect on health, due to which the inhalation of toxic particles and gases accelerates and increases. Although authorities recommend the use of masks, which has become common post-Covid, very few people do so. And also, not all of them are valid.

The government has closed public schools and public universities have returned to virtual classes for the rest of the week, as during the pandemic. Delhi officials suggest workplaces allow remote work for half their workforce. Public construction work – not private – has been halted in the Indian capital this week. Diesel-powered trucks without Delhi registration plates are being denied entry into the capital.

The use of electric vehicles is increasing, but infrastructure is still lacking and the municipal government ended road tax exemptions for these vehicles in August. The situation, which is becoming apocalyptic, would already have happened if the Delhi city authorities had not planned, since the nineties, one of the largest metro networks in the world, from zero stations to 256, spread over nine to twenty-five. Year happened. lines. The Airport Express, which had a rocky start, is today a resounding success because it connects with other lines.

However, in a city with barely any footpaths, the culture of taking motorized three-wheeler autorickshaws survives even for journeys of just over a hundred metres. There are millions of races every day.

Punjab went up in flames

Harvesters have compounded the problem by leaving large amounts of stubble to burn.

Every year, with the arrival of winter, this smog arrives in the city, as the cold air traps the dust, emissions and smoke caused by unauthorized agricultural burning to destroy wheat crops and rice stubble in the surrounding states. Takes. It is estimated that these fires may have contributed up to 40% to New Delhi’s pollution this year.

This problem is not suffocating only in India or Pakistan. Pollution can be equally extreme in the neighboring country Nepal. A seven-year-old French boy first mentioned pollution in his memories of Kathmandu, when he was looking out the window overlooking the Himalayas. The situation in Thailand is no less dramatic in Bangkok, when the stubble burning season begins, making a trip to the country’s second city, Chiang Mai, or neighboring Laos inadvisable.

New Delhi, before and after