Delhi Smog: 37 Flights Diverted, Over 500 Delayed

Air pollution in Delhi and surrounding towns reachedthe worst levels on Sunday with authorities in the world's most pollutedcapital city.

Besides the harm that the air quality has done to thelungs of some 40 million people living in the capital region, the lowvisibility due to heavy smog disrupted flight operations at the Delhi airporton Sunday, with 37 flights diverted to other airports and more than 250 departuresand 300 arrivals delayed.

According to reports, the air quality index, measuringlevels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter in the air, deteriorated to above900, way over the 500-level that qualifies as severe-plus.

According to airport officials, 37 flights were diverted between 9 am and 1 pm from Indira Gandhi International Airport to places like Jaipur, Amritsar, Lucknow, and Mumbai.

Roads looked deserted as large numbers of peoplestayed at home, rather than expose themselves to the noxious atmosphereoutside.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a Tweet said, "Pollution has reached unbearable levels across North India."

The government environment monitoring agency SAFARwarned that no relief was expected for the next one-two days as humidityresulting from unexpected light rains overnight had exacerbated pollution.

Reports also say that 40% of the people want to getout of the Delhi region because of the failure to control pollution, which wasfound in a survey of 17,000 people in the region.