Government employees in New Delhi ordered to WFH for frightening reason
Employees in the world’s second largest city have been told to work from home en masse for a very frightening reason.
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A massive amount of workers in the world’s second largest city have been ordered to work from home due to a toxic smog blanketing the region.
India’s New Delhi is continuing to deal with severe air pollution, with photos showing a thick smog blanketing the entire city.
On Wednesday morning local time the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reached a “severe” level of 426.
According to the country’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) AQI of 400 or higher is deemed “severe” and poses health risks to both healthy individuals and those with medical conditions.
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In response to the declining air quality, Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced on Wednesday that 50 per cent of government employees in the capital would need to work from home.
“To reduce pollution, Delhi government has decided to implement work from home in government offices. Fifty per cent of the staff in government offices will work from home. Later in the day, the officers will meet to discuss the implementation of the provision,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Minister Rai also urged private offices and businesses to adopt similar strategies.
The move is part of the fourth stage of the Graded Response Action Plan, which are emergency measures to address air pollution.
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It comes after schools were closed in New Delhi earlier in the week, with all school holding until classes under further notice.
Restrictions have also been placed on truck and van traffic in the city.
The World Health Organisations recommended daily maximum levels of PM2.5 pollutants - dangerous cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs - is 15.
At the time of writing, the levels in New Delhi were at a “hazardous” 322 just after 6am Thursday local time.
On Monday, the levels of PM2.5 pollutants surged past 60 times the daily maximum recommended by WHO.
The ongoing pollution crisis is already taking a toll on residents, with a recent survey by Indian company, LocalCircles, finding 75 per cent of families surveyed in the Delhi region have at least one member suffering from a sore throat or cough.
A further 58 per cent also reported experiencing headaches and 50 per cent had a family member who was dealing with breathing difficulties or asthma.
Illegal farm fires fuel dangerous smog
The illegal burning of farm fields in northern India reached a record high this season, fuelling a the toxic smog choking millions of residents, government monitors have claimed.
The northern state of Punjab - an agriculture hub often dubbed as “India’s wheat bowl” - recorded 1251 farm fires on Monday, according to the government-run Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.
The practice is banned but law enforcement is lax, and it remains the cheapest and quickest way for farmers to prepare their fields for the next growing season.
India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and a major exporter of wheat. Since September, Punjab has recorded 9655 farm fires. The previous highest number on a single day was 730, which was recorded on November 8.
Farmers are a powerful voting bloc and remain defiant about their role in the smog, saying they cannot switch to more expensive methods without substantial government support.
The ash-grey smoke from the fires contributes to the blanket of hazardous smog that settles on New Delhi every winter when cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground.
Various piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.
A report by The New York Times this month, based on samples collected over five years, also revealed dangerous fumes also spewing from a power plant incinerating rubbish from the capital’s landfill garbage mountains.
- with Chantelle Francis
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