DELHI – All primary and elementary schools have been closed in Indian capital city of New Delhi due to worsening air pollution amid dense smog.
Authorities said the schools will remain closed on Friday (today) and Saturday, adding that most construction activities have been suspended in the region to tackle the pollution.
Every year in winters, the capital city of India is blanketed by a dense layer of smog due to vehicle emissions, construction dust and massive burning of crop residues.
The smog causes respiratory ailments, eye infection and other diseases among the 20 million residents of New Delhi.
International media report that the AQI hovered around 480 in some monitoring stations in the city.
“Unfavourable meteorological conditions, sudden increase in the farm fire incidents and north-westerly winds moving the pollutants to Delhi are the major causes for a sudden spike in AQI,” the New Delhi’s Commission for Air Quality Management said on Thursday.
