New Delhi’s Air Turns Toxic, and the Finger-Pointing Begins
The New York Times
Schools and factories close. India’s Supreme Court blasts the government’s do-nothing response. But Delhi residents continue to suffer from the bad air.
NEW DELHI — A thick blanket of noxious haze has settled over the Indian capital of New Delhi, burning eyes and lungs, forcing schools to close and prompting ardent calls from residents for action.
India’s leaders have responded with what has become an annual tradition: by pointing fingers at one another.
The central government, run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is accusing city officials of inaction, and vice versa. The country’s Supreme Court has stepped in to shut down factories and order farmers to stop burning fields. But the court’s other efforts, which last year included ordering the installation of a pair of air-scrubbing filter towers, have been derided as ineffectual.
