On Nov. 17, India’s capital, New Delhi, recorded the most polluted day in its recorded history, as residents breathed air that was considered at least 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s safe limit. The suffocating smog brought the city to a standstill, with students and employees asked to stay home.
“I’ve lived in Delhi my entire adult life, but the city’s air scares me now,” journalist Romita Saluja says. These days, she adds, she avoids the capital altogether during the autumn and winter months, after she noticed a recurring pattern of coughs, colds and breathing difficulties.
Across the border in Pakistan’s Punjab province, authorities labeled the smog a “national disaster,” leading to the shutdown of schools, restaurants and construction activities.