More kids in hospital, Schools shut as smog smothers Delhi

More children are in hospital with breathing problems as pollution levels remain dangerously high in New Delhi, doctors warned on Wednesday, and the government shut five power stations and extended school closures to try to contain the crisis.

The city of 20 million was the world’s most polluted capital for the third straight year in 2020, according to IQAir, a Swiss group, and air quality has hit hazardous levels there and in other parts of northern India this month.
Hospitals are seeing a sharp increase in the number of children with respiratory complaints, raising concern among parents and doctors about their health in the short and long term.

India’s Supreme Court has rapped the government over its failure to mitigate pollution for residents who endure toxic air almost every winter when temperatures and wind speed drop and pollutants get trapped in thick smog.After the Court’s intervention, the Commission on Wednesday shut down five coal-fired power plants around New Delhi, banned trucks carrying non-essential goods and stopped construction in the capital and its satellite cities.
NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (Reuters)