"A suffocating blanket of smog has engulfed India's capital, permeating the air with an acrid smell as pollution levels soar, intensifying a public health emergency that has driven residents to demand governmental action. By Monday morning, New Delhi's air quality index had reached 344, categorised as severe and hazardous to breathe according to the World Health Organization's recommended exposure thresholds."
"Children joined their parents at the demonstration, wearing protective masks and carrying placards, including one that starkly declared: I miss breathing. Levels of PM2.5 carcinogenic particles small enough to penetrate the bloodstream regularly surge to concentrations 60 times above the UN's recommended daily health guidelines. Today I am here just as a mother, said protester Namrata Yadav, who attended the protest with her son. I am here because I don't want to become a climate refugee."
"At the protest location near India Gate, the historic war memorial, PM2.5 readings surpassed the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum by more than 13 times. Year after year, it is the same story, but there is no solution, said Tanvi Kusum, a lawyer who explained she joined because she was frustrated. We have to build pressure so that the government at least takes up the issue seriously."
New Delhi's air quality reached hazardous levels with an index of 344, creating a public health emergency as dense smog and an acrid smell spread across the city. Cooler winter temperatures trap pollutants from agricultural burning, industrial operations, and vehicle exhaust, causing PM2.5 concentrations to surge repeatedly. Fine particulate levels often rise to dozens of times above UN and WHO daily health guidelines, with readings near India Gate exceeding WHO limits by more than 13 times. Residents, including children wearing masks, staged protests demanding government intervention and expressing frustration and fear about long-term impacts.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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