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.

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 was left gasping this week as air pollution smog reduced visibility to near zero and raised air quality levels more than 130 times safe limits.

In several areas of the city, pollution levels were more than 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit. Forecasts say the poor air quality will continue into the week.

Delhi recorded air pollution more than 17 times above an acceptable level as worsening smog triggered curbs on trucking and shuttered construction sites and schools.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the AAP government is monitoring the situation and will quickly decide on all possible preventive measures in the wake of toxic air pollut