新湖畔网 （随信APP) | 印度首都重现“危险”空气污染，城市被笼罩在浓雾中

作为第一次今年冬季被监测器评定为“危险”的烟火和农田秸秆燃烧引发的空气污染笼罩了新德里 - 版权 AFP/File DUSTIN FRANZ, Elijah Nouvelage

在经过了烟花和农田秸秆燃烧引发的空气污染加剧后，浓烟笼罩了印度首都。

上班途中的通勤者在毒烟中咳嗽，据健康专家称，每年都会有成千上万人因此丧生，尽管在这个庞大的城市中很少有人戴口罩。

这座城市著名的印度门纪念碑被一股难闻的雾气环绕。

新德里每年都会被苦涩的烟雾笼罩，主要原因是邻近地区的农民为了耕作而焚烧秸秆。

在印度教光明节狂欢之际，空气污染预计将进一步恶化。今年光明节将于11月1日举行，烟花喷射出有害毒素是庆祝活动的一部分。

微粒物质水平（致癌微粒物质PM2.5被称为可通过肺部进入血液的微粒物质）激增至世界卫生组织推荐的每日最大安全值的近23倍。

根据监测公司IQAir周三的数据，污染物浓度达到344微克/立方米，将这个拥有大约3000万人口的庞大城市的空气列为“危险”，成为世界上空气最糟糕的城市。

本月新德里下令“完全禁止”所有爆竹的生产和销售，考虑到“公众利益要遏制高空气污染”。

之前的限制通常被忽视。

警方经常不愿对违规者采取行动，因为烟花与印度教信徒的宗教情感紧密相关。

当局还禁止了秸秆焚烧，哈里亚纳邦的警方本周逮捕了几名在翻耕前纵火的农民。

迄今为止，政府的努力没有解决这个国家的空气质量问题，医学杂志《柳叶刀》的一项研究将2019年世界上人口最多的国家的167万早逝归因于空气污染。

Thick smog engulfed New Delhi as air pollution fueled by fireworks and farm stubble burning was ranked "hazardous" by monitors for the first time this winter - Copyright AFP/File DUSTIN FRANZ, Elijah Nouvelage

Acrid clouds engulfed India's capital on Wednesday as air pollution fueled by fireworks and farm stubble burning was ranked "hazardous" by monitors for the first time this winter.

Commuters walking to work cough through poisonous smog that kills thousands each year, according to health experts, although few in the sprawling city wear masks.

The city's famous India Gate monument was wreathed in foul-smelling mist.

New Delhi is blanketed in acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in neighboring regions to clear their fields for plowing.

Air pollution is expected to worsen during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, which falls on November 1 this year when smoky fireworks spewing hazardous toxins are part of celebrations.

Levels of fine particulate matter — cancer-causing microparticles known as PM2.5 pollutants that enter the bloodstream through the lungs — surged to nearly 23 times the World Health Organization recommended daily maximum.

The pollutants topped 344 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring firm IQAir on Wednesday, which listed air in the sprawling megacity of some 30 million people as "hazardous", ranking it as the world's worst.

New Delhi this month ordered a "complete ban" on all firecrackers — both their manufacture and sale — in view of the "public interest to curb high air pollution".

Previous restrictions were routinely ignored.

Police are often reluctant to act against violators, given the strong religious sentiments attached to the crackers by Hindu devotees.

Authorities have also banned stubble burning, and police in Haryana state have this week arrested several farmers for setting fires before tilling.

Government efforts have so far failed to solve the country's air quality problem, and a study in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths in 2019 to air pollution in the world's most populous country.