(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, NOV 16 - The Indian capital is in semi-lockdown for the whole week, with offices closed and millions of employees in smart working.
The measure, which runs alongside the closure of schools and the blocking of construction sites for four days, was imposed yesterday by the Supreme Court to defend citizens from pollution and cut traffic.
New Delhi has experienced a pollution emergency since the beginning of November, shrouded in a toxic cloud of smog that is highly damaging to health.
For the lowering of temperatures, fireworks burned all over the country for Diwali, and stubble burned by farmers in Delhi AQI, (the average air quality index that measures the concentration of PM2 particles. 5 per cubic meter) has reached the level of 499: according to the WHO the danger is already triggered beyond the value of 100.
Greenpeace reports that about 57,000 people died prematurely in the Indian capital from pollution last year.
(HANDLE).
