BBC News reports:
Five million masks are being distributed at schools in India’s capital, Delhi, after pollution made the air so toxic officials were forced to declare a public health emergency.
A Supreme Court-mandated panel imposed several restrictions in the city and two neighboring states, as air quality deteriorated to “severe” levels.
Dangerous particulate levels in the air are about 20 times the WHO maximum.
The city’s schools have also been closed until at least next Tuesday.
All construction has been halted for a week and fireworks have been banned. From Monday, the city will introduce a temporary scheme so that only cars with odd or even-numbered license plates can drive on given days, in a bid to cut traffic pollution.
The masks are being handed out to students and their parents, and Mr. Kejriwal has asked people to use them as much as possible.
The levels of tiny particulate matter (known as PM2.5) that enter deep into the lungs are 533 micrograms per cubic meter in the city. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the PM2.5 levels should not be more than 25 micrograms per cubic meter on average in 24 hours.
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How thick is the pollution?
As thick white smog blanketed the city, residents started tweeting pictures of their surroundings.
Photos of German leader Angela Merkel’s official visit showed the obscuring effect of the smog at the presidential palace – though both leaders ignored the declared public health emergency and declined to wear masks.
Some workers were being told to work from home to avoid the pollution.
One account director at market research firm Kantar, which employs several hundred people in the city, told Reuters staff had been told not to come in on Monday.
Many local residents are furious that the situation remains the same year after year. Municipal workers and vulnerable groups have been given thousands of free high-grade N95 masks in recent years.
“I didn’t realize how bad it would get,” one resident said. “Do we really want our kids to grow up in such an environment? No-one really cares, no-one wants to improve the situation.”
The hashtags #DelhiAirQuality and #FightAgainstDelhiPollition are trending on Twitter.
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