インド首都、大気汚染で学校閉鎖 「ロックダウン」も検討

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】インドの首都ニューデリーを管轄するデリー首都圏当局は１３日、大気汚染の悪化を受け、１週間の学校閉鎖を発表した。健康に有害なスモッグから市民を守るため、「ロックダウン（都市封鎖）」の導入も検討する。（写真はインド・ニューデリーの渋滞と、立ち込めるスモッグ）
　デリー首都圏のアルビンド・ケジリワル首相は、記者会見で「子どもたちが汚染された空気を吸わなくても済むよう、学校を閉鎖する」と述べた。
　人口約２０００万人のニューデリーは世界で最も大気汚染が深刻な都市の一つ。特に冬季は、工場のばい煙や車の排ガス、焼き畑の煙などが上空に分厚く垂れ込める。
　最高裁判所は１３日、大気汚染危機への対策としてニューデリーへのロックダウン導入を提案した。ケジリワル氏は、関係者と協議して最高裁提案の受け入れを検討すると表明。「大気汚染対策でのロックダウンは過去に例がない。極端な手段となる」と述べた。
　広大な開放空間での粉じん削減のため、建設工事も４日間中止。公務員は在宅勤務とし、民間企業にも可能な限り在宅勤務に切り替えるよう推奨する。
　血管系に悪影響を及ぼす恐れのある微小粒子状物質（ＰＭ２．５）の濃度を示す大気質指標（ＡＱＩ）は１３日、３００を超えた。これは、世界保健機関が定める１日当たりの最大値の２０倍に相当する。
　主要紙タイムズ・オブ・インディアは、病院では呼吸器系の症状を訴える患者が急増したと報じている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/15-13:16）

New Delhi authorities announced Saturday a one-week closure of schools and said they would consider a pollution lockdown to protect citizens from toxic smog.
Schools will be shut so that children don't have to breathe polluted air, Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told reporters.
Delhi is ranked one of the world's most polluted cities, with a hazardous melange of factory and vehicle emissions, and smoke from agricultural fires, settling in the skies over its 20 million people each winter.
On Saturday, the Supreme Court suggested imposing a lockdown on Delhi to combat the air quality crisis.
How will we live otherwise? Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said.
Kejriwal said his government would consider the court's suggestion after consulting with stakeholders.
Pollution lockdown has never happened before. It will be an extreme step, he said.
Kejriwal said that construction activity would be halted for four days to cut down dust from vast, open sites.
Government offices were asked to operate from home and private businesses advised to stick to work-from-home options as much as possible.
The Central Pollution Control Board on Friday advised authorities to prepare for implementation of measures under 'emergency' category.
It added the poor air quality would likely run until at least November 18 due to low winds with calm conditions during the night.
On Saturday, levels of PM 2.5 particles -- the smallest and most harmful, which can enter the bloodstream -- topped 300 on the air quality index.
That is 20 times the maximum daily limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
Hospitals were reporting a sharp rise in patients complaining of breathing difficulties, the Times of India reported.
We are getting 12-14 patients daily in the emergency, mostly at night, when the symptoms cause disturbed sleep and panic, Dr Suranjit Chatterjee from Apollo Hospitals told the paper.
- Stubble smog -
Delhi's government has been vowing for years to clean up the city's air.
The burning of agricultural waste in Delhi's neighbouring states -- a major contributor to the city's pollution levels every winter -- has continued despite a Supreme Court ban.
Tens of thousands of farmers around the capital burn their stubble -- or crop residue -- at the start of every winter, clearing fields from recently harvested paddies to make way for wheat.
The number of farm fires this season has been the highest in the past four years, according to government data.
Earlier this year, the Delhi government opened its first smog tower containing 40 giant fans that pump 1,000 cubic metres of air per second through filters.
The $2 million installation halves the amount of harmful particulates in the air but only within a radius of one square kilometre (0.4 square miles), according to engineers.
A 2020 report by Swiss organisation IQAir found that 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities were in India, with Delhi ranked the most polluted capital globally.
The same year, the Lancet said 1.67 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019, including almost 17,500 in the capital.
In recent days the river flowing through Delhi, the Yamuna, was also choked with sickly white foam.
The city government has blamed the blight on heavy sewage and industrial waste discharged into the river from further upstream.