Poison in the air

On Thursday, the Delhi government declared a pollution emergency, banning the entry of trucks, putting a hold on all construction activity and shutting down primary schools as a toxic smog hung over the capital city for the third day in a row. According to environmentalists, illegal crop residue burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, rising vehicle emissions and the still conditions in the air made matters worse. A U.S. embassy measure of tiny particulate matter, PM 2.5, showed a reading of 608 at 10 a.m. when the safe limit is 50. Reuters, quoting experts, said PM 2.5 is particulate matter about 30 times finer than human hair. The particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing severe respiratory diseases. In 2015, the Ministry of Environment under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, issued orders to comprehensively green Delhi's road margins and open spaces, which hasn't been pursued aggressively. The picture shows firemen spraying water on trees to clear the dust.