Toxic foam floats on Yamuna as Delhi gasps to breathe clean air

Toxic foam was found floating on the Yamuna river near Kalindi Kunj in Delhi on Sunday as citizens in the national capital region (NCR) woke up to a smoggy morning for the third straight day.

The capital's water supply has remained affected since Saturday evening due to rise in ammonia levels in the Yamuna.

Delhi’s overall air quality continued to remain in the 'severe' category with the air quality index (AQI) standing at 436 at 6.15 am on Sunday.

The ministry of earth’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said Delhi's AQI was 437 on Saturday night wherein the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was 318, while that of PM 10 was reported to be 448.

It said Delhi's AQI is likely to improve from the evening today to the upper end of the 'very poor' category as the "surface winds are becoming stronger" dispersing air pollutants.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 are marked as severe/hazardous.

An environmentalist said given the severity of the crisis, lockdown-like measures of shutting down schools, controlling vehicular movement in and around Delhi-NCR should be implemented. “Perhaps construction activities should be banned for next one week,” environmentalist Vimlendu Jha was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.