Delhi reels under thick smog blanket as air quality levels plunge

Schools were shut across India's capital New Delhi on Friday as a noxious grey smog engulfed the megacity and made life a misery for its 30 million inhabitants.
Smoke from farmers burning crop stubble, vehicle exhaust and factory emissions combine every winter to blanket Delhi in a choking haze. The public health crisis has persisted for decades and researchers have blamed the smog for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths across India.