Monday morning, schools remained shut as residents of Delhi NCR woke up to air smelling of smoke, coughing fits and brown dirty air. Despite rains, there was little respite as AQI levels across the region were firmly in the ‘hazardous’ category.
The rest of the country breathed better with Mumbai and Hyderabad breathing moderate PM 2.5 levels. Chennai and Kolkata also showed a spike in bad air quality with the city average in both cities showing ‘unhealthy‘ air.
FIT spoke with doctors from across fields in Delhi and they have all reported increased instances of hospitalisation, illness and worsening of condition among patients with heart disease, lung, brain, liver and other disorders. Doctors also warned of worsening mental health.
Here’s what the numbers mean. The World Health Organisation identifies pollution levels are ranging from:
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