Whatever the causes of the smog, by one ranking Delhi was not just the most polluted city in the world, but “nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka,” in Bangladesh next door, as Shashi Tharoor, a leader of the opposition in Parliament and best-selling author, posted on X.

India's capital city of Delhi has virtually shut down as air pollution hit "severe plus" levels, according to Indian government officials in its pollution control authority.

Delhi woke up to yet another dawn with a blanket of toxic air on Wednesday. India’s national capital recorded an AQI of 426 in the “severe” category the morning after it witnessed the coldest night of

Residents in India's northern states woke up to another day of poor air quality on Tuesday, as a layer of dense fog shrouded most of the region, and pollution in the capital Delhi remained severe.

India’s capital region, Delhi, has virtually come to a halt as air pollution levels reached a “severe plus” category, creating what officials have described as a public health emergency.

Air pollution chokes New Delhi every winter, but this year's smog has already derailed everything from transport and road work to schools.