Delhi air pollution levels at ‘severe plus’, authorities say

Every year, Delhi, India’s northern states and parts of Pakistan battle hazardous air during the winter months of October to January due to plummeting temperatures, smoke, dust, low wind speed, vehicular emissions and crop stubble burning.

And every year, the government imposes pollution control measures during these months.

Yet, Delhi’s pollution problem hasn’t gone away.

On Monday, Delhi’s Chief Minister Atishi said that all of northern India was experiencing a “medical emergency” due to stubble burning continuing unchecked across the country, particularly in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

She accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not taking steps to curb the practice despite the problem intensifying over the past five years.

The BJP, in turn, has blamed Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for not being able to put a check to pollution in the city.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s residents continue to gasp for air.

“Woke up with a itchy, painful throat.. even two air purifiers are not making the AQI breathable indoors. Children are breathing in gas chamber,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Another user called for a “peaceful mass protest on the streets”. “The air we breathe is lethally toxic,” he wrote.

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