NEW DELHI: New Delhi was in a medical emergency on Monday as toxic smog engulfing the Indian capital reached the highest level this year, prompting authorities to close schools and urge people to stay indoors.

Pollution in Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area — home to around 55 million people — reached the “severe plus” category as some areas reached an Air Quality Index score of 484, this year’s highest, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

On the AQI scale from 0 to 500, good air quality is represented by levels below 50, while levels above 300 are dangerous.

Delhi was ranked as the most polluted city in the world on Monday by Swiss group IQAir, with a concentration of PM 2.5, 138.4 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended levels.

“All of North India has been plunged into a medical emergency,” Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh said in a press conference, adding that many cities were “reeling under severe levels of pollution.”

She said farm fires, where stubble left after harvesting rice is burnt to clear fields, were causing the extreme levels of pollution.

“Why is the (central government) not taking action against these states and implementing concrete steps? People are unable to breathe. I am getting calls from people complaining about breathing and respiratory issues,” she said.

“All of North India is paying the price for this, especially children and elderly who are struggling to breathe.”

Authorities in Delhi have directed all schools to move classes online and tightened restrictions on construction activities and vehicle movements.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president of meteorology and climate change at forecast company Skymet Weather, said people in the capital region are faced with serious health risks.

“If they are non-smokers, then they will also inhale at least 30 to 40 cigarettes per day (at these pollution levels). So, you can imagine how bad it is for our health,” he told Arab News.

“PM 2.5 is a very minute particle (that can be inhaled). It is so minute that it can go into our blood vessels also, so it is very harmful and leads to various diseases, particularly for older people and infants who have breathing problems.”

Palawat is expecting the air quality to remain at this level for at least a few more days.

“It will remain in the very poor to serious category in coming days also,” he said.

LONDON: Britain is allowing parts for F-35 fighter jets to be exported to Israel despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, lawyers for a Palestinian rights group told a London court on Monday.
West Bank-based Al-Haq, which documents alleged rights violations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is taking legal action against Britain’s Department for Business and Trade at London’s High Court.
Israel has been accused of violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza war, with the UN Human Rights Office saying nearly 70 percent of fatalities it has verified were women and children, a report Israel rejected.
Israel says it takes care to avoid harming civilians and denies committing abuses and war crimes in the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al-Haq’s case comes after Britain in September suspended 30 of 350 arms export licenses, though it exempted the indirect export of F-35 parts, citing the impact on the global F-35 program.
Al-Haq argues that decision was unlawful as there is a clear risk F-35s could be used in breach of international humanitarian law.
British government lawyers said in documents for Monday’s hearing that ministers assessed Israel had committed possible breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) in relation to humanitarian access and the treatment of detainees.
Britain also “accepts that there is clear risk that F-35 components might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL,” its lawyer James Eadie said.
Eadie added that Britain had nonetheless decided that F-35 components should still be exported, quoting from advice to defense minister John Healey that suspending F-35 parts “would have a profound impact on international peace and security.”
A full hearing of Al-Haq’s legal challenge is likely to be heard early in 2025.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 43,800 people have been confirmed killed since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in attacks on communities in southern Israel that day, and hold dozens of some 250 hostages they took back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.