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.

New Delhi was the most polluted city in the world for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, wrapped in a dense and toxic smog – mixture of fog and pollution – raising air pollution to levels over 60 times considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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 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 faced a severe environmental crisis as the AQI hit hazardous levels in multiple areas. In response, the Delhi Police enforced vehicle checks and a ban on older diesel vehicles to combat air pollution,

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.

With the national capital witnessing another day of alarmingly high level of air pollution, the Delhi government on Tuesday pushed for inducing artificial rain over the city and sought Prime Minister