Delhi bans trucks as megacity chokes

NEW DELHI: Delhi authorities have imposed a three-day ban on trucks entering the world´s most polluted major city as its 20 million inhabitants wheezed in the toxic annual winter smog. With levels of air pollution classed as “hazardous”, the restriction on the nearly 40,000 medium and heavy lorries that enter Delhi every day was imposed late Thursday. The transport ministry said that vehicles carrying food and other essentials were exempted, while appealing to private owners of diesel sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to leave their cars at home. Delhi´s air quality typically worsens in winter, as clouds of smoke from farmers´ fires billow into the city and mix with industrial and traffic emissions to form a noxious cocktail.