People in India’s prosperous capital region Delhi, enveloped in smog, breathes toxic air, Lahore announces lockdown amid severe pollution and Mongolia “no longer has a winter” as decision makers drag feet to reduce fossil fuel dependence,

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.

The AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded as 457; the AQI in Ashok Vihar was 455; Chandni Chowk's AQI was 439 and RK Puram recorded an AQI of 421.

People in Delhi woke up to a hazy morning with a minimum temperature of 11.3 degrees Celsius as the air quality remained in the "very poor" category recording an overall AQI of 373. Out of 38 monitoring stations in the city,