A battle for breathing

As dawn broke yesterday, residents awoke to a choking shroud of smog clinging heavily over the city.

- 

The toxic haze has transformed the capital and surrounding regions—Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad—into an area of blurred outlines and poisonous air. The extent of the crisis is now inescapable. Flights have been diverted, schools are on the verge of being closed, and people have taken up masks to ensure their well-being. Yet, the gravity of Delhi's air pollution, and the policies that remain grossly inadequate to combat it, demand more urgent and lasting response.