Smog returns to Indian capital as agriculture fires start

NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian capital’s air quality levels plunged to “very poor” on Friday and a smoggy haze settled over the city, days after the state government initiated stricter measures to fight chronic air pollution.

The Air Quality Index in New Delhi rose past 270, according to SAFAR, India’s main environment monitoring agency, after agricultural fires in neighboring states sent smoke billowing across the city. The World Health Organization deems anything above 25 as unsafe.

The national capital, one of the world’s most polluted cities, enjoyed a respite from air pollution up until September in part thanks to a virus lockdown. But with industrial activities resuming and cars back on the roads — along with the onset of cooler weather and less wind — air quality in the city has once again fallen to unhealthy levels.

October is also the time of year when farmers in neighboring regions, including the states of Haryana and Punjab, set fire to their post-harvest fields to clear them, despite there being a ban on it.

That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution levels in the city of more than 20 million people and exacerbating what is already a public health crisis.

Health experts say high air pollution levels over a prolonged period have compromised the disease resistance of people living in New Delhi, making them more susceptible to the coronavirus.

Over the years, the pollution crisis in New Delhi has piled public pressure on the government to tackle the root causes.

Authorities have often introduced a system that restricts many private vehicles from taking to the roads for two weeks. It has also ordered firefighters to sprinkle water from high-rise buildings to settle the dust, tried to snuff out garbage fires and ordered...