Residents choke on poisonous smog as Delhi grapples with worst pollution crisis

Millions of people in India's capital have been choking for the past week due to "eye burning smog" with schools have been shut and cars taken off the roads due to the environmental crisis.

In a bid to stop to smog, construction has also been halted to mitigate the effects of the air pollution, local media reported.

The poisonous haze envelopes New Delhi every year, caused mainly by smoke from agricultural burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.

Pollution in Delhi has reached the worst levels in three years, with AFP reporting it being three times as bad as Beijing and an incredible 400 times the amount deemed healthy.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Delhi a "gas chamber", blaming the central Narendra Modi-led government for ignoring the plight of citizens in the national capital.

Authorities parked an air-purifier near the iconic Taj Mahal in the city of Agra, around 250 km south of the capital, in an attempt the clean the air around it.

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— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 3, 2019 " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post Pollution has rched unbearable levels across N India. Del govt taken many steps. Delhiites hv made many sacrifices. Del suffering for no fault of theirs. Punjab CM also expressd concern. Centre shud take immediate steps 2 provide relief. V will support Centre in all initiatives https://t.co/Vx85xYlDId — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 3, 2019

The pollution has caused respiratory complaints at hospitals and the diversion of 37 flights on Sunday.

A new law came into effect restricting the number of cars in the capital, by allowing them onto the roads on alternate days depending on whether their number plates end in an odd or an even number.

However the city's 7 million motorbikes and scooters, public transport and cars carrying only women were exempt from this rule, leading to criticism that the measures were ineffective.

"There is smoke everywhere and people, including youngsters, kids, elderly are finding it difficult to breathe," said Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a Twitter video. "Eyes are burning. Pollution is that bad."

Deadly long-term health consequences

Leaders and politicians have engaged in a blame game over the crisis, with the national right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi blaming Delhi local Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), calling Kejriwal’s odd-even car rule a 'stunt'.

The chief minister of Punjab, one of the states responsible for the agricultural burning, told local media that farmers simply cannot afford any method of clearing their fields for the new seeding season other than burning the remaining stubble.

The World Health Organisation says that the safe daily limit of particulates in the air measuring less than 2.5 microns - so tiny they enter deep into the respiratory tract – is 25 micrograms per cubic metre of air. The readings in Delhi maxed out at 999, according to respected journalist Vikram Chandra.

New Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world, and fourteen out of in the top fifteen most polluted cities are in India.

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