Schools in the Indian capital will be closed indefinitely as smog deteriorates Environmental News

Residents were asked to work from home and trucks transporting non-essential goods are banned because they suffer dangerous levels of air pollution in New Delhi.

New Delhi has closed schools until further notice, urging people to work from home and banning non-essential trucks from entering the Indian capital due to the dangerous level of air pollution.

One of the most polluted cities in the world – home to a population of about 20 million – New Delhi is covered every winter with a thick smog cover.

On Saturday, the Delhi state government ordered the closure of the schools for a week and banned construction work for four days.

But in an order issued late Tuesday, the Delhi Air Quality Management Committee said all educational institutions should be closed until further notice.

Five coal-fired power plants around New Delhi have also been temporarily shut down, according to an order from the panel on air pollution under the federal Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change.

With the exception of trucks carrying essential goods, access to the capital is banned until November 21 and most construction activities in Delhi and surrounding cities have been halted, the order said.

“Smog guns” and water sprayers were ordered to operate in hot areas at least three times.

The commission also said that at least 50 per cent of government employees should work from home by November 21, and encouraged private companies to continue to do so.

The order comes after the Delhi government rejected a call by the Indian Supreme Court to declare a “pollution blockade”, the first of which would limit the city’s population to their homes.

The Supreme Court also hit the federal and local governments for failing to mitigate the pollution.

An anti-smog cannon throws atomized water into the air to reduce New Delhi air pollution [Harish Tyagi/EPA]

New Delhi, one of the most polluted capitals in the world, faces chronic winter smog every year as the drop in temperature traps deadly pollutants from coal-fired power stations outside the city to burn vehicle smoke, construction activities and open rubbish.

One of the main causes of air pollution in winter is smoke from farmers who burn crop residues in nearby states.

The government, however, told the Supreme Court that industry was the biggest contributor after vehicle pollution and dust.

This week, levels of PM 2.5 (small enough to breathe into the lungs when harmful particles enter the bloodstream, causing chronic lung and heart disease) have risen to more than 400 in several parts of the city.

Last week, the levels reached 500, which is more than 30 times the maximum limit recommended by the World Health Organization.

A report by the Lancet in 2020 said nearly 17,500 people had died in Delhi in 2019 as a result of air pollution. Another report by the Swiss organization IQAir last year found that 22 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world were in India.