Authorities in New Delhi began revoking licenses for thousands of older diesel vehicles on Tuesday and halted construction work on the underground rail network, as air pollution remained several times over the safety limit.
The measures were the latest attempt to lift a thick haze of smoke, ash and other pollutants that has blanketed the capital city of some 17 million people for more than a week, triggering anger.
Supreme Court, which has in the past led the drive to clean up the city’s air, ordered the Delhi administration to report back in two days with a plan to combat the worst smog in 17 years.
The court was responding to several public interest petitions from environmental groups seeking its intervention in implementing anti-pollution measures that a top environment tribunal had ordered earlier in the year.
