NEW DELHI (AP) — With the air quality reduced to "very severe" in the Indian capital region, authorities have braced Friday for a major Hindu festival featuring massive fireworks that threatens to cloak New Delhi with more toxic smog and dust.
The government's Central Pollution Control Board on Friday said New Delhi's air quality had plummeted to the worst possible category. The level of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter that can dangerously clog lungs, read 187, more than six times higher than the World Health Organization considers safe.
The most recent air pollution data from the World Health Organization gave India the dubious distinction of having the world's ten most polluted cities.
Crop burning will be at its peak in the first week of November as farmers prepare their fields to sow winter crops.
