'Every breath is an effort': Delhi residents suffer amid smog crisis

Residents and visitors to Delhi are struggling to cope with severe levels of toxic air pollution that have prompted authorities to declare an “emergency situation” in the city. Locals have expressed their concern over the dangerous smog on Twitter, with some saying they have been forced to take their families out of Delhi due to concerns over their health. Others said they had not seen the sunrise in more than a week due to the haze that clogs the sky. Delhi is suffering from its seventh consecutive day of heavy smog, which is a result of farmers in India’s northern plains setting fire to their fields combined with revellers setting off firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival. The toxic haze hanging over the city contains concentrations of harmful particles that are so high they cannot be measured by most air quality instruments. Using the hashtags #DelhiSmog and #DelhiChokes, residents and tourists posted about their experiences of the pollution on Twitter. Photographs from the city show heavy smog at ground level. There was little escape from the toxic cloud, even inside. Journalists covering the visit by the British prime minister Theresa May to Delhi also noted the hazardous conditions. Before and after images from the city also paint a stark picture of the crisis.