NEW DELHI: A toxic haze enveloped India’s national capital on Wednesday morning as temperatures dropped and pollution surged, reducing visibility in some parts and prompting a warning from airport authorities that flights may be affected.
Delhi overtook Pakistan’s Lahore as the world’s most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir’s live rankings, with an air quality index (AQI) score of more than 1,000, considered “hazardous,” but India’s pollution authority said the AQI was around 350.
Officials were not immediately available to explain the variation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the pollution had reduced visibility to 100 meters (328 feet) in some places by around 8 a.m. (0230 GMT).
“Low visibility procedures” were initiated at the city’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, operator Delhi International Airport Limited said in a post on social media platform X.
“While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected,” the authority said.
CAT III is a navigation system that enables aircraft to land even when visibility is low.
The IMD said the city’s temperature dropped to 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday morning from 17.9C on Tuesday, and may fall further as sunlight remains cut off due to the smog.
Delhi battles severe pollution every winter as cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from farm fires set off illegally in the adjoining, farming states of Punjab and Haryana.
Previously, authorities have closed schools, placed restrictions on private vehicles, and stopped some building work to curb the problem.
The city’s environment minister said last week that the government was keen to use artificial rain to cut the smog.
Pakistan’s Punjab province, which shares a border with India, has also banned outdoor activities, closed schools, and ordered shops, markets and malls to close early in some parts in an effort to protect its citizens from the toxic air.
Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges
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Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges
- “Low visibility procedures” were initiated at the city’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, operator Delhi International Airport Limited said in a post on social media platform X
India to provide $450 million to cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: India has committed $450 million in humanitarian assistance to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday on a visit to the country.
The cyclone killed more than 640 people when it swept across the South Asian island last month, causing floods and landslides that inflicted about $4 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described the storm, which affected more than two million people, as the most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit, told a media briefing in Colombo he had handed a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dissanayake, committing to a “reconstruction package of $450 million.”
While $350 million will take the form of “concessional lines of credit,” the remaining $100 million will be given as grants.
Jaishankar also noted the 1,100 tons of relief material, along with medicine and other necessary equipment, sent to India’s southern neighbor in the cyclone’s immediate aftermath.
“Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority,” he said, detailing the Indian military’s assistance in providing portable bridges.
Jaishankar said India would also look at other ways to mitigate the losses, including encouraging Indian tourism to Sri Lanka.
“Similarly, an increase in foreign direct investment from India can boost your economy at a critical time,” he added.
The cyclone struck as Sri Lanka was emerging from its worst-ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
Following a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund approved in early 2023, the country’s economy has stabilized.
str-abh/cwl
