Authorities in India’s capital, New Delhi, and surrounding areas issued fines to the owners of thousands of vehicles and construction sites for violating pollution rules, according to Reuters.
Nearly 60,000 vehicles and more than 7,500 construction sites were fined, officials said. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) rated conditions on Monday as “very poor,” with a score of 373 on an index that rates levels between zero and 50 as “good.”
New Delhi is the most polluted major city in the world, according to Swiss group IQAir’s live rankings. Some 54,000 vehicles did not have a pollution under control (PUC) certificate showing allowable emission levels, with nearly 3,900 more impounded as “overaged.”
The capital struggles with intense pollution every winter as cold air traps emissions, dust and smoke from farm fires in the neighbouring agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana, leading to frequent school closures and limited construction.
IQAir has ranked New Delhi as the world’s most polluted capital for four years in a row, but poor air quality is a widespread winter challenge across South Asia. Rising pollution could shorten the life expectancy of the region’s residents by more than five years, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) warned last year.
