Delhi wants artificial rain to tackle worsening air pollution

India's capital territory of Delhi is keen to use artificial rain to fight air pollution this year, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday, as deteriorating air quality in the region led to an increase in respiratory illnesses.

Large swathes of north India battle pollution each winter as cold air traps dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from farm fires in the breadbasket states of Punjab and Haryana, shrouding the national capital and its suburbs in a toxic haze.

Cloud-seeding - the method of triggering rain by seeding clouds with salts - was considered to curb pollution in 2023 too but the plan did not materialize due to unfavorable weather conditions.

"I appeal to the federal environment minister...now in Delhi and north India, the pollution has reached the border of 400," Rai told reporters, referring to the air quality index (AQI) score on Tuesday.

"The next 10 days are quite crucial...help us get permission for artificial rain, call a meeting," he said.

About a third of Delhi's 39 monitoring stations showed a severe AQI score of more than 400 on Tuesday, a level which affects healthy people but is more serious for those fighting disease.

An air quality score of zero to 50 is considered good.

Doctors at private hospitals in Delhi and its suburbs said they had seen a spike in patients with respiratory illnesses since Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights celebrated last week, when revellers violated a ban on firecrackers.

"We are seeing more patients due to pollution related flare up of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis. There is an approximately 20%-30% increase in patients," said Prashant Saxena, senior director for pulmonology at Fortis Hospital.

At C K Birla Hospital in industrial hub Gurugram, doctors are seeing more than 50 patients with pulmonary complaints every day, some of whom also need hospitalisation, said Kuldeep Kumar, head of critical care and pulmonology

Toxic smog wreathes Indian captial as winter nears

A toxic smog shrouded the Indian capital on Tuesday, driving air quality in some areas into the "severe" range ahead of winter, when cold air traps pollutants and brings a spike in respiratory illnesses.

The mix of smoke, emissions, and dust is an annual problem for authorities in New Delhi, with vehicles, construction dust, and smoke from farm fires in the adjoining northern states of Punjab and Haryana among the major contributors.

"The outlook for the subsequent six days: the air quality is likely to be in the 'very poor' to 'severe' category," said the earth sciences ministry.

Workers with the Delhi Government spray chemicals to clean the toxic foam in the polluted Yamuna river on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 5, 2024Reuters

The city's overall score on an air quality index kept by India's top pollution authorities was 'very poor' at 384, the ministry added, and was likely to stay there until Thursday.

An index range of 401 to 500 falls into the 'severe' category, implying it affects healthy people, but is more serious for those already fighting disease.

Ministry data showed farm fires have increasingly swelled the pollution over the last three days, for a share of more than 23% on Monday, from about 15% on Saturday.

About a third of the city's 39 monitoring stations showed a 'severe' score of more than 400 on Tuesday, said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), well short of an air quality score of zero to 50 that it rates as 'good'.

A boat with people wades through the toxic foams in the polluted Yamuna river on a smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, November 5, 2024.Reuters

Swiss group IQAir also rated Delhi the world's second most polluted city on Tuesday, after Lahore in Pakistan, where authorities also took emergency measures in the wake of Sunday's unprecedented pollution levels.

The Punjab government has blamed deteriorating air quality on pollution wafting in from India, an issue it has vowed to take up with its neighbor through the foreign ministry.