Artificial lungs turn black outside Sir Ganga Ram Hospital | Photo Credit: Times Now

New Delhi: In quite a shocking illustration of air pollution in Delhi NCR, the condition of the artificial model of lungs which was placed outside the parking lot of Sir Gangaram Hospital on November 3rd noon has drastically changed. From white to black, the before and after images of the model may essentially be the nature’s way of alerting citizens about the highly toxic and polluted air that they have been breathing of late.

Within just 48 hours of having been placed outside the hospital, on Monday noon, the model (originally snow-white in colour) looked entirely different from what it looked like earlier. This is quite an indication of the polluted air that the national capital is engulfed in.

With the festival of lights and firecrackers just a day away, a state of medical emergency was declared by the doctors in the national capital region on Monday. In related news, more than 250 patients were seen lined up outside the respiratory Out Patient Department (OPD) of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi.

​Most of these patients included senior citizens and labourers exposed to excessive air pollution. While talking to Mirror Now, the patients lined up in snaking queues expressed their helplessness. On Monday morning, Delhi woke up to thick smog hazing the atmosphere, making it hard to breathe for citizens across the capital.

Also Read | Doctors declare public health emergency due to unprecedented pollution crisis in Delhi

An Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) study conducted at 13 buildings in Delhi revealed that not just the air that we breathe outside, but the air indoors is equally dangerous. Even though the PM 2.5 levels indoors remained regulated, levels of CO2, bioaerosols and volatile organic compounds were found to be beyond the safe level. Read the full report below.

Read More | Delhi air not safe anywhere; pollution inside offices and homes has worse toxicity