How serious is the smog in India this time?

The Indian capital, New Delhi, suffered from severe smog recently, and about 1800 primary schools were forced to temporarily close on the 5 th. City officials in New Delhi originally expected that schools that had suspended classes would resume classes after the air quality improved on the 7th.

However, due to the deterioration of air quality, it is not only difficult for schools that have suspended classes before to resume classes. The city government of New Delhi announced on the 6th that all local schools will be closed for three days from the 7th. At the same time, the municipal government has also promulgated measures to control smog, such as suspending demolition and construction work and temporarily closing coal-fired power plants.

PM2.5 exceeded the standard by more than 90 times, and it was the most serious in 17.

Since the end of 10, the air quality index in New Delhi and its surrounding areas has continuously deviated from the chart. According to the Indian Center for Science and Environment, this is the worst smog in New Delhi 17 years.

According to the Associated Press, the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in the air in southern New Delhi even exceeded 900 micrograms per cubic meter on the 5th, which is more than 90 times the safety index set by the World Health Organization.

The media previously reported that the latest round of smog was directly caused by the citizens of New Delhi setting off millions of firecrackers to celebrate a religious festival on June 54381October 30. As a result, the air quality deteriorated sharply overnight.

However, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of New Delhi, said that in addition to holiday factors, the burning of straw by farmers in surrounding areas is also the main reason for the recent smog in the capital. Now New Delhi is comparable to a "gas chamber".

Most areas around New Delhi are dominated by agriculture. Farmers usually burn crop straws in the fields in winter to prepare for the next sowing season, which greatly aggravates the deterioration of air quality.

"More crop straws will be burned in the next few days, so we can't expect pollution to decrease." Kejriwal said.

Suspend the demolition and construction of coal-fired power plants and suspend classes for at least 5 days.

Seeing the new round of smog getting worse, about 250 to 300 people in New Delhi held a protest on the morning of the 6th, calling on the government and people to make more efforts to control pollution. Many people held signs asking farmers to stop burning straw.

Kejriwal hosted an emergency meeting on the same day and introduced a series of measures to control smog. "(since the 7 th) all schools in New Delhi have been suspended for three days; The urban demolition and construction work was suspended for 5 days. " He said.

Other measures include: except for hospitals, cell phone towers and other important places, the city suspended the use of diesel generators 10 days; A coal-fired power plant on the edge of New Delhi was temporarily closed 10 day; Since 10, the main roads in urban areas have been vacuumed once a week. Kejriwal also advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible, avoid going out and try to work at home.

At the same time, the Indian environmental department plans to convene officials from the surrounding areas of New Delhi to discuss measures to control straw burning.

According to the Associated Press, in order to alleviate air pollution, the New Delhi municipal government issued a "purchase restriction order" earlier this year, which imposed a 15-day odd and even number restriction on private cars twice. Kejriwal used this to remind the public that in order to control the current serious smog, a similar "purchase restriction order" may be implemented again.