India: Delhi restricts car use as toxic smog covers city | News | DW | 04.11.2019

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India: Delhi restricts car use as toxic smog covers city

Vehicle restrictions have been introduced in and around the Indian capital, New Delhi, as part of an effort to cut soaring levels of air pollution. Private cars will be allowed on the roads on alternate days.

Authorities in New Delhi are restricting the use of private vehicles on the roads under an odd-even scheme

India's capital and its surrounding region began two weeks of restrictions on Monday, aimed at lowering severe levels of toxic air pollution.

A car rationing system allows private vehicles to use city roads on alternate days, depending on whether registration plates end with odd or even numbers.

Read more: Cities across world pledge air pollution changes, but are they ready?

According to authorities some 1.2 million registered vehicles in Delhi will be off-road every day during the two-week limitation.

Officials have already declared a public health emergency and ordered schools to stay closed.

Delhi is among the most polluted cities in the world, particularly in winter with chronic levels of hazardous air from October through February.

  • People wearing face masks stand in front of the India Gate

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    Dangerous haze

    Pollution levels in New Delhi have reached a three-year high. On Monday, the state air quality index for the city of 20 million people was at 436 — about nine times the recommended maximum.

  • Two people walk outside the Jama Masjid Mosque in New Delhi

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    Through the smog

    Dense smog hung over central Delhi, where many pedestrians and bikers were seen wearing face masks. Authorities have declared a public health emergency, warning of a spike in locals suffering breathing difficulties, burning eyes and scratchy throats.

  • A woman sweeps the side of the road leading to India Gate

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    Toxic cloud

    Delhi's India Gate, one of the capital's national monuments, was shrouded in a toxic cloud. The pollution prompted India's Supreme Court to order construction work across the city be halted until Tuesday. Authorities have also temporarily closed schools and handed out millions of pollution masks.

  • Three policemen stand on a road

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    'Gas chamber'

    Delhi's chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, who has compared his city to a "gas chamber," said in a video posted to Twitter that "there is smoke everywhere and people, including youngsters, kids, elderly are finding it difficult to breathe."

  • A man wearing a face mask on public transport looks at his phone

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    Leave the car at home

    In an effort to tackle the smog, Delhi authorities banned half the capital's private cars from the roads. Under the regulation, vehicles must stay at home on alternate days, depending on whether their number plates end in an odd or even number. Motorbikes, scooters and public transport are are exempt from the "odd-even" scheme.

  • Three men hold a sign amid traffic

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    'Obey odd and even'

    These traffic volunteers hold a sign urging motorists to "obey odd and even" and "remove pollution." More than 600 police teams and volunteers were deployed at intersections to hand out fines of nearly 4,000 rupees ($60; €54) to anyone breaking the new rules.

  • India's flag flutters in the smog

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    No smog solution

    Experts warn the car restrictions won't be enough to tackle the problem. "If air pollution was solely due to the vehicular traffic, then this would be a solution," climate policy analyst Siddharth Singh told Agence France-Presse. "Right now it cannot be a solution because motorized private transport has a very small share in the whole pie."

  • Boys playing soccer

    New Delhi chokes under blanket of smog

    Pollution hotspot

    Not everyone has heeded warnings from authorities to stay indoors. Delhi locals are no strangers to high levels of pollution, and many simply went about their lives as as usual. India has 10 of the world's most polluted cities, according to the World Health Organization.

    Author: Natalie Muller


Delhi's state-run Central Pollution Control Board's air quality index for New Delhi was "severe" at 436 — some nine times the recommended maximum.

Flights to and from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport were delayed or rerouted on Sunday as heavy air pollution enveloped the city.

In the nearby city of Agra, authorities deployed a van with air purification equipment close to the Taj Mahal, in a bid to improve air quality at the tourist site.  

Read more: India's youth want cleaner air, better infrastructure

Major carriers such as Air India and Vistara were forced to divert flights to airports as far away as Mumbai and Amritsar on Sunday.

Air pollution sensors in some parts of Delhi were reported to have maxed out at their upper limit of 999 micrograms, with people advised to stay indoors and wear masks.

Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the situation had become "unbearable." 

rc/rt (dpa, AP)

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