Every year when winter arrives, India's capital region is choked by smog and smoke. Experts say there are already solutions waiting to be implemented, but more political will is needed to clear the air.

The toxic smog cloaking New Delhi in recent weeks has been smothering its 20 million or so residents with dangerous pollution but breathing life into debate about whether the city can remain India's capital.

Cleanest air recorded this year in Delhi was on 13 September, when AQI touched 52. Levels of ultrafine particulate matter or PM2.5 are increasing every year.

As winter sets in across north India – usually around the time of the country’s biggest festival, Diwali – the air in Delhi becomes thick and brown with visible pollutants. To breathe in is to taste toxic fumes. The visibility is often so bad that famous monuments are reduced to smoky blurs on the horizon. It is, as one writer once put it, as if a burial shroud has cloaked the city.

Political deadlock, fragmented efforts and citizen apathy have led to the country’s pollution crisis

Over the past four years, at least three key studies aimed at real-time pollution source identification have either been halted or rendered obsolete.

Most of India’s coal-burning plants are set to again fall short of a major pollution target, adding to the deadly smog that’s enveloped large parts of the country.

Delhi experienced worse-than-predicted air quality, with 'severe' to 'severe plus' AQI levels despite forecasts of 'very poor'. The forecasting system's inaccuracy, attributed to factors like unanticipated firecracker emissions from weddings, highlights the need for more robust and reliable pollution prediction models.

Delhi experienced worse-than-predicted air quality, with 'severe' to 'severe plus' AQI levels despite forecasts of 'very poor'. The forecasting system's inaccuracy, attributed to factors like unanticipated firecracker emissions from weddings, highlights the need for more robust and reliable pollution prediction models.

Experts called on the government to focus on controlling pollution at source and not undertake experiments without proven scientific efficacy

About three-quarters of the coal-fired generators near major cities are set to miss a year-end deadline to install equipment to curb sulfur-dioxide emissions

Delhi's air quality remains "severe-plus" for the fourth consecutive day, with an AQI of 460, worsened by farm fires and weather conditions.

Delhi's air quality remains "severe-plus" for the fourth consecutive day, with an AQI of 460, worsened by farm fires and weather conditions.

India's efforts to combat severe air pollution face a setback as most coal-fired power plants are expected to miss a deadline for installing sulfur-dioxide emission control equipment.

Gurgaon experienced ‘severe’ air quality for the first time this season, with an AQI of 469, primarily due to stubble burning, vehicular emissions, and unfavourable weather conditions.

Delhi's air quality hit a severe AQI of 494, nearing its highest ever, causing health issues and prompting work-from-home orders amid ongoing pollution crises.

The Air Quality Index at 15 air monitoring stations — Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Dwarka-Sec 8, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Najafgarh, Nehru Nagar, North Campus in DU, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, and Wazirpur — maxed out on Monday.

The Air Quality Index at 15 air monitoring stations — Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Dwarka-Sec 8, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Najafgarh, Nehru Nagar, North Campus in DU, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, and Wazirpur — maxed out on Monday.