Delhi has imposed a “pollution lockdown”, with the closure of schools, the shutdown of construction and the issuing of a work from home order after the capital’s air quality plummeted.

The air quality index (AQI) has regularly reached 999 – the highest possible reading, and 20 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit – since the beginning of November.

A thick smog has blanketed the capital in recent days – an annual occurrence in the city of 20 million people.

Late autumn is the worst time for air pollution in Delhi as a change in weather conditions in late October means the winds that usually carry pollutants from vehicles and factories away from the city drop, while temperatures also fall.

This is compounded by the annual burning of crop stubble by farmers in states surrounding the capital and the lighting of fireworks and fire crackers in a succession of Hindu festivals, culminating in Diwali.

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Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital city. A University of Chicago study in 2019 found that exposure to pollutants will reduce the life expectancy of the average resident in Delhi by 10 years.

A lack of political will has also seen air pollution worsen over the last few years as rapid development has been prioritised over clean energy and industry.

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