Delhi breathes toxic air as govts set to submit emergency plan Monday

Toxic air shrouded Delhi Monday morning, making it the third most polluted city on the planet as the city and central governments prepared to give the Supreme Court an emergency plan to manage the pollution.

The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was at 318, or in the 'very poor' category at 8am, according to the state-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Readings below 50 are considered safe and anything above 300 is 'very poor or 'severe' to 'hazardous'.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday closed schools for a week and construction sites for four days, as the city tries to protect people in a worsening air pollution crisis. He said talks on a potential complete lockdown in the city were also underway, but any decision would only be taken after consultation with the central government.

Earlier that day, the chief justice of India asked the central and Delhi governments to come up with an emergency plan to tackle the dangerous smog, calling the situation "very serious".

Air quality in Delhi, often ranked the world's most polluted capital, has declined due to crop stubble burning, emissions from transport, coal-fired plants outside the city and other industry, as well as open garbage burning and dust

IQAir, a website which monitors air pollution around the world, had Pakistan’s Lahore on the top of 10 most-polluted cities list, China’s Shenyang next and then Delhi. Mumbai was the other Indian city on the list a little before 8am.

Residents of Delhi endured this year's worst air on November 5, a day after revellers burnt firecrackers during Diwali, as AQI levels surged to 463 on a scale of 500.

Vehicular emissions contributed more than half of Delhi's particulate pollution between October 24-November 8, the Centre for Science and Environment think tank said in its report published on Thursday.

Air pollution costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg reported last week.