India's capital announces restrictions after 'alarming' air pollution levels

Authorities in the national capital New Delhi on Friday announced more restrictions, including the closure of primary schools, as the air pollution situation in the capital reached 'alarming levels.' According to the data from India's state-run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the overall Air quality level of Delhi on Friday evening was in the 'severe category.' Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said that outdoor activities for students above class five will now remain suspended and warned that measures like restricting vehicles on roads would also be considered. As the city and adjoining areas remained engulfed by the thick layer of smog, authorities in the last few days have announced steps like halting construction work, but it has not helped much. 'It is not the problem of Delhi alone. It is the problem of the entire northern India,' said Kejriwal, who heads the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The chief minister said that in neighboring Punjab-also ruled by AAP-the government has taken a number of steps to control stubble burning by farmers. Stubble burning has been considered a major contributing factor to air pollution. Farmers in north India set fire to their fields at the onset of winter in order to clear crop stubble from harvested rice paddies. 'More steps will be taken so that incidence of stubble burning is reduced by next year,' he said. Delhi's Environment Minister Gopal Rai also said on Friday that the government offices in the capital will run at 50% capacity. In the neighboring Noida city, the administration on Thursday had ordered schools to conduct classes online for students up to the eighth grade. Rai listed measures being taken to reduce pollution, including the use of new eco-friendly buses and setting up 33 teams to monitor industrial pollution. Air pollution has become a persistent problem in New Delhi over recent years and the city is often ranked as the most polluted capital in the world. The issue is particularly aggravated in the winter season from November to January when farmers in nearby areas burn crop stubble and add to the emissions of coal-fired plants and industrial units around the city. According to Greenpeace, a global environmental group, the 2021 World Air Quality Report for the fourth consecutive year found New Delhi as the most polluted capital city in the World. 'SITUATION IS ALARMING' Prof. Ravindra Khaiwal, an environmentalist, told Anadolu Agency that the emission from stubble burning along with other sources in northern India and weather conditions are major contributing factors to the present air pollution levels. 'The situation currently is alarming. The pollution levels have reached the severe category in Delhi and adjoining areas as well,' he said. 'The need of the hour is that states take proactive steps so that pollution levels go down.' He said that the focus should also be on reducing emissions from all sources such as 'vehicular exhaust and non-exhaust, municipal waste burning, construction activities, fugitive and industrial emission along with stubble burning.' Locals say the situation is taking a toll on their health. 'I suffered from COVID-19 last year, and I can feel with the rising pollution, there is a difficulty in breathing,' Harshit Kumar, a Delhi resident told Anadolu Agency. 'There is a burning sensation in the eyes and the government should take drastic measures to help the people to end this problem.' A political war has erupted over the pollution problem. Indian Federal Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav this week accused AAP of turning Delhi into a 'gas chamber.' He said the Punjab state saw over a 19% rise in farm fires over 2021. Kejriwal, however, called for an end to 'blame games and finger-pointing.' 'Let's stop the blame game. Let's find solutions as a country,' he tweeted on Friday.