New Delhi residents wearing gas masks as smog-hit city chokes

India's capital New Delhi is choking as pollution has reached its worst level in nearly two decades.

Visibility in the smog-choked city of over 17 million people was down to less than 80 metres earlier this week, with tens of thousands of residents sporting gas masks as they struggled to breathe.

City streets were shrouded in a thick haze of smoke, ash and other palpable pollutants and locals complained of breathlessness, watering of eyes and wheezing. Pollution levels recorded were almost 15 times the permissible limit.

Interminable queues snaked their way through bazaars selling face masks and air purifiers both of which were in short supply, unable to meet rising demand.

Doctors said spending a day outdoors in Delhi was akin to smoking a packet and a half of cigarettes and warned that if these conditions persisted, the atmosphere could turn carcinogenic.

On Monday levels of PM2.5 fine particles – linked to higher rates of respiratory ailments, lung cancer and heart disease – hovered at around 800, compared to normal levels of no more than 60.

PM2.5 levels between 301 and 500 are classified as “hazardous” in which everyone faces the risk of respiratory effects; those above 500 are beyond the official index, as air quality monitors in the city are unable to record beyond this limit.

‘Pollution epidemic’

“We are calling this a pollution epidemic” said

K K Aggarwal

, president of the

Indian Medical Association

. It was advising people to stay at home if possible and not venture out into the open.

Delhi’s air quality index generally worsens with the onset of winter, particularly after the annual Diwali festival of lights, when millions of people let off highly polluting crackers. But this year pollution has much more severe than usual, as farmers in neighbouring states burnt crop stubble after the paddy harvest ahead of planting wheat, trapping smoke and pollutants in cooling temperatures.

Fine dust, sand and cement particles from construction sites added to the pollution.

‘Constantly choked’

“It’s impossible to breathe normally” said housewife Shakuntla Devi, who plans on moving back to her village in neighbouring

Uttar Pradesh

state until Delhi’s pollution crisis abates. “I feel constantly choked,” she added.

Children and the elderly are the worst affected and city hospitals were struggling to cope with the endless stream of patients suffering from respiratory ailments. “It’s like a war zone with hospital wards full of infants,” said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha.

On Monday Delhi’s government closed all city schools for three days, halted construction activity until the weekend and temporarily shut down a major power plant in a bid to contain the pollution.

City authorities also revoked licences of more than 200,000 diesel vehicles older than 15 years, believing them to be highly polluting, but to little avail, as the capital continued to be blanketed by noxious pollutants.