Delhi declares health emergency over air pollution

Nov. 1 (UPI) -- An Indian Supreme Court-mandated pollution body place Delhi and surrounding areas under a public health emergency after heavy smog drenched the region Friday.

Schools were closed and all outdoor activities banned until Tuesday, along with any construction activities, after the Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Authority's ruling.

"The air quality in Delhi and [the National Capital Region] deteriorated further last night and is now at the severe-plus level," Bhure Lal, the authority's chairman, told chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

"We have to take this as a public health emergency as it will have an adverse health impact on all, particularly our children," Lal added.

Lal said Delhi's pollution reached "severe-plus" levels Friday morning but came back down later in the day.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called Delhi a "gas chamber" because of the pollution. Kejriwal said farmers in Haryana and Punjab burning crop stubble contributed to the pollution, sending smoke clouds through northern India.

"People have also been advised to not exercise in the open till the pollution level reduces and special care should be taken of the children, aged and vulnerable population," Lal said. "This is a grave situation, and I am hoping for your personal intervention so that there is stringent enforcement and full compliance with the directions issued."

A 2018 report on air quality ranked India as the third-most polluted country in the world behind Bangladesh and Pakistan with Delhi ranked the globe's most polluted capital city.