File:Thick Smog Blankets India’s Capital City (NESDIS 2019-11-01 delhi-image).jpg

English: Air quality levels in India’s capital city of New Delhi reached the “severe plus” level on Friday, prompting the government to declare a public health emergency, according to local news reports. Thick smog lingers over the city, which is home to more than 25 million people, in this Oct. 31, 2019, true-color imagery from the NOAA-20 polar-orbiting satellite. “Delhi has turned into a gas chamber due to smoke from crop burning in neighbouring [sic] states,” Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Thursday. Schools in the area were forced to closed until Nov. 5 because of the toxic pollution, but as Kejriwal notes in his tweet, the government is distributing free face masks to children through public and private schools in the city. India, and New Delhi in particular, have grappled with poor air quality for years. In a 2018 list of the world’s most polluted cities in terms of air quality, 25 of the top 50 cities — including New Delhi — are located in India. Air pollution in this region typically peaks around this time of year, partially due to fireworks from the Hindu festival of Diwali, according to the Associated Press.