Flights diverted in Delhi as toxic smog hits worst levels of 2019
Car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from farms have contributed to pollution crisis
Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
Sun 3 Nov 2019 15.09 GMT
Pollution in
Delhi has reached its worst levels so far this year, at almost 400 times the amount deemed healthy, causing planes to be diverted away from the city.
A week on from Diwali, the thick brown smog that shrouded the city after the festival has shown no sign of shifting. On Friday a public health emergency was declared and Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the city had turned into a “gas chamber”.
By Sunday the air quality had deteriorated further, with the air quality index measuring over 900 in some areas, far exceeding the level of 25 deemed safe by the WHO, and well above even the 500 mark deemed “severe plus”.
Visibility became so bad that more than 30 flights were redirected from Delhi airport. “Pollution has reached unbearable levels,” said Kejriwal.
Car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from farms have contributed to a pollution crisis
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