In response to dense smog around New Delhi, Indian authorities have ordered the closing of six of the 11 coal-fired power plants within 300km of the city, as the Financial Times reports. Air quality has been at a hazardous level (in the region of 300-450 AQI), and predictions from forecasters that meteorological conditions would not improve in the short term forced the hand of regulators. (The Himalayas to the north are one reason why pollutants are sometimes not dispersed as they would be in different geographies.) Schools have been closed, truck entry into New Delhi has been restricted and private construction work has also been banned in an effort to reduce further pollution in a city that has ranked as having the worst air quality in the world for three years. Enforcement of other pollution reduction measures, such as restricting stubble burning by farmers and the use of fireworks, has so far been weak.