Delhi smog needs human intervention: Congress

Congress leader Tom Vadakkan on Friday described the alarmingly high pollution levels in national capital Delhi as man-made and said only human intervention could control or end it.

Vadakkan told ANI, "This is a man created situation and hell needs human intervention. There is an AAP government here and there is a support based of the Bharatiya Janata Party LG, between them, they have left Delhi in the lurch, they have a lot of answering to do."

"If immediate steps are not done, be on the political game, there will be lot of deaths in Delhi. There are going to be hospitals filled with patients that it will be a shame in this time and age that we are not able to control our own pollution," he added.

Earlier, Delhi's Health Minister Satyendra Jain said the rise in pollution levels in the city was because of crops being burnt in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

"Crop burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is the biggest contributor in the rise of pollution levels. We have requested the government of these states several time not to burn crops," Jain told ANI.

On Thursday, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) pressed alarm buttons to highlight one of the worst cases of smog in the national capital.

CSE experts said that as per the India Meteorological Department, the smog on November 2, 2016 was the worst in 17 years.

Analysing the available data, the CSE reports states that the post-Diwali peak of pollution is higher than the Diwali peak, as the levels of PM2.5 have increased by 62.7 per cent on November 2 as compared to that on Diwali. On November 2, the levels were 9.4 times the standard.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi recorded the worst levels of smog in 17 years on November 2, with visibility as low as 300-400 metres.

The period between 11AM and 2:30 PM was the worst in the day with respect to airport visibility.

Schools should be shut if necessary as children are more vulnerable. Joint studies of Central Pollution Control Board and the Chittaranjan National Cancer Research Institute from Kolkata have shown that every third child in Delhi has impaired lungs.