Toxic Smog Blankets New Delhi

Primary schools in New Delhi, India will be shut down, as the capital continued to be engulfed by high levels of air pollution, the local government said.

Parents in the city had raised concerns about sending their children to school after residents complained of discomfort in breathing and irritation in the eyes, nose and throat.

Plus, plumes of smoke rose in India’s north on Friday as farmers burned stubble in their fields as they prepared to plant crops, worsening the pollution in nearby cities including capital New Delhi.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi’s 20 million residents were effectively breathing smoke on Thursday as the air quality index breached the “severe” and “hazardous” categories in nearly all monitoring stations of the Indian capital.