New Delhi, New Delhi, the capital of India, was blanketed by a thick layer of toxic haze today (Friday), and some schools were ordered closed as the air quality index (AQI) plummeted to the worst level for any major city in the world.

According to Kashmir Media Service, officials said a combination of lower temperatures, still wind and crop stubble burning in neighbouring farm states has caused a spike in air pollutants.

Many of the New Delhi’s 20 million residents complained of irritation in the eyes and itchy throats with the air turning a dense grey as the AQI hovered around 480 in some monitoring stations.

An AQI of 0-50 is considered good while anything between 400-500 affects healthy people and is a danger to those with existing diseases.

Aheed Khan, a Delhi-based doctor said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that in his last 24 hours duty, he saw babies coughing, children coming with distress and rapid breathing.

There were fewer people in the city’s parks such as Lodhi Garden and India Gate, popular with joggers, a witness told news agency Reuters.

Residents snapped up air purifiers and one service centre for the appliances said there was a shortage of new filters and fresh stocks were expected on Monday.

Officials said they saw no immediate improvement in the air quality.

Chairman of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Ashwani Kumar, said this pollution level will stay for the next two to three weeks, aggravated by incidents of stubble burning, slow wind speed and cooling temperatures.

It is worth mentioning here that farmers in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh typically burn crop waste after harvesting in October to clear their fields before they sow winter crops a few weeks later.

New Delhi topped a real-time list on Friday of the world’s most polluted cities, compiled by Swiss group IQAir which put Indian capital’s AQI at 611 in the ‘hazardous’ category.