{"id":810991,"date":"2024-12-08T10:47:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T16:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/08\/indias-capital-introduces-stricter-anti-pollution-measures-as-toxic-smog-hides-taj-mahal\/"},"modified":"2024-12-08T10:47:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T16:47:07","slug":"indias-capital-introduces-stricter-anti-pollution-measures-as-toxic-smog-hides-taj-mahal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/08\/indias-capital-introduces-stricter-anti-pollution-measures-as-toxic-smog-hides-taj-mahal\/","title":{"rendered":"India’s capital introduces stricter anti-pollution measures as toxic smog hides Taj Mahal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW DELHI \u2014 India<\/a>\u2019s government banned non-essential construction in New Delhi, the world\u2019s most polluted capital<\/a>, and urged residents to avoid burning coal for heating, to combat worsening air quality that has disrupted flights and obscured the Taj Mahal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new measures, which include sprinkling water with dust suppressants on roads, as well as mechanized sweeping that would help settle dust, came into effect on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, who uses only one name, also directed all primary schools to shift to online classes.<\/p>\n

They measures also include a ban on non-essential construction and an appeal to citizens to use more public transport and avoid using coal and wood for heating, a government release said Thursday, without saying how long the measures would be in place.<\/p>\n

\"Image:<\/picture>
Views of the famed Taj Mahal in Agra, India, have been obscured by smog.<\/span>Pawan Sharma \/ AFP – Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Air quality\u00a0in northern India has deteriorated over the past week, with toxic smog obscuring India\u2019s famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, about 136 miles from New Delhi, as well as Sikhism\u2019s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.<\/p>\n

New Delhi has a severe air quality level of 424, according to live rankings kept by Swiss group IQAir<\/a>, the worst among global capitals.<\/p>\n

The city battles smog \u2014 a toxic mix of smoke and fog \u2014 every winter as cold air traps dust, emissions and smoke from illegal farm fires.<\/p>\n

Around 38% of the pollution in New Delhi this year has been caused by stubble burning \u2014 a practice where stubble left after harvesting rice is burned to clear fields \u2014 in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana.<\/p>\n

Delhi flights faced delays, with tracking website Flightradar24<\/a> showing 88% of departures and 54% of arrivals were delayed as of Thursday afternoon due to smog.<\/p>\n

Officials blamed high pollution, combined with humidity, becalmed winds and a drop in temperature for the smog, which cut visibility to 980 feet at the city\u2019s international airport, which\u00a0diverted\u00a0flights in zero visibility on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

More patients flocked to hospitals, particularly children.<\/p>\n

\"India<\/picture>
Devotees arriving on the banks of the river Yamuna to offer prayers as smog and dust envelops the sky near New Delhi on Nov. 7.<\/span>Manish Swarup \/ AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere has been a sudden increase in children with allergies, cough and cold … and a rise in acute asthma attacks,\u201d Sahab Ram, a pediatrician in Punjab\u2019s Fazilka region, told news agency ANI.<\/p>\n

Delhi\u2019s minimum temperature fell to 61 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday from 63 degrees the previous day, weather officials said.<\/p>\n

Pollution in New Delhi was likely to stay in the \u201csevere\u201d category on Friday, the earth sciences ministry said, before improving to \u201cvery poor,\u201d or an index score of 300 to 400.<\/p>\n

The number of farm fires to clear fields in northern India has risen steadily this week to almost 2,300 on Wednesday from 1,200 on Monday, the ministry\u2019s website showed.<\/p>\n

Lahore, the capital of Pakistan\u2019s eastern province of Punjab, was rated the world\u2019s most polluted city on Friday, in IQAir\u2019s rankings. Authorities there have also\u00a0battled\u00a0hazardous air<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/picture><\/div>\n

Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW DELHI \u2014 India\u2019s government banned non-essential construction in New Delhi, the world\u2019s most polluted capital, and urged residents to avoid burning coal for heating, to combat worsening air quality that has disrupted flights and obscured the Taj Mahal. The new measures, which include sprinkling water with dust suppressants on roads, as well as mechanized<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":810992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[248,4951],"tags":[6223,8366],"class_list":{"0":"post-810991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-capital","8":"category-indias","9":"tag-capital","10":"tag-indias"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/810992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}