Delhi’s worsening Smog

Like clockwork, India’s capital New Delhi records dangerous air quality index levels.

• Air pollution in New Delhi, India’s capital, goes to hazardous level every year and there hasn’t been a solution in sight for decades.
• The air quality index continues to be in the ‘Very Poor’ to ‘Hazardous’ levels due to a combination of vehicular pollution, stubble burning and the weather conditions during onset of winter.
• According to Lancet, around 1.67 million Indians died from effects of pollution in 2019 alone, accounting for one in six of the country’s deaths.
• This pandemic year things got so bad that the highest court of the country ordered the state to go into a lockdown because of terrible air pollution. Schools and colleges were shut.
• Apart from being a health hazard, the air pollution in India is also leading to a loss of productivity with close to $100 billion being lost.
• This read list shines a light on what causes the annual air pollution in New Delhi and how India is paying for it in many ways.