Delhi’s 15 times higher than safe toxic smog levels is disrupting lives, says consulting CEO

Smog makes visibility poor on the roads in New Delhi, India.

Air pollution in India’s capital, New Delhi, has become so severe that some people are struggling to commute to work.

Titus Koshy, CEO of United Consultancy Services Group which has more than 150 employees, told B-17 that the toxic smog engulfing the city had made it difficult for his staff to come into the office.

“There’s so much confusion. People can’t reach the office, public transport is not accessible, it’s very disruptive and we’ve had to work from home,” he said.

Koshy added that some of his employees had complained about sore throats and viral infections over the past few weeks.

On Monday, the Air Quality Index in New Delhi was over 1,500, the BBC said, or 15 times the level the World Health Organization (WHO) deems satisfactory for breathing.

According to IQ Air, it improved to 186 on Thursday, a level still classed as “unhealthy.” The United States Environmental Protection Agency considers anything over 300 as “hazardous” to health.

On Tuesday, Delhi’s Chief Minister announced on X that schools would be shut and classes would be shifting online. Construction has also been banned in the city and some flights have been disrupted.

“These construction laborers are not going to be paid by anybody,” said Koshy. “They didn’t even let someone come in and install a geyser in my house. These workers will be impacted more than anyone else, what do they do?”

Delhi and the surrounding areas are home to offices of several multinational companies, including JP Morgan, KPMG, Cisco, and Mondelēz International.

Shubham Gupta, a consultant at KPMG, told B-17 that he tries to work from home as much as possible, but his company mandates in-office work at least two to three days a week. He wears an N-95 mask on those days, and relies on the office air purifier.

“Sometimes it hits my mind that I should leave Delhi, but after all, our livelihood is there, so how can we leave?” he said.

KPMG India said its teams can exercise the flexibility for remote working in consultation with their managers and based on their client commitments.

“All have been advised to travel to/from NCR/Delhi only if it’s business critical,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Employee well-being continues to be our topmost priority and we will adapt ourselves as the situation evolves.”

Smog in the city is worse during the post-monsoon winter months, especially when it is combined with the annual Diwali festival, dust storms, and mass burning of crop residue from neighboring states.

A 2019 study by the World Bank estimated the global cost of health damages associated with exposure to air pollution to be $8.1 trillion.