India: Toxic smog in Delhi surpasses WHO limit by more than 60 times

Residents of India's capital New Delhi choked in a blanketing toxic smog on Monday as worsening air pollution surged past 60 times the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended daily maximum.

The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — peaked at 9.07am on Monday, according to IQAir pollution monitors, with a reading above 15 in a 24-hour period considered unhealthy by the WHO.

Because of the worsening toxic smog, India's capital New Delhi shut schools and switched to online classes until further notice, making it the city's latest bid to ease the sprawling megacity's health crisis.

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On Thursday, toxic smog obscured India's famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights, becoming too thick to see through in several places.

On Wednesday, eight flights were diverted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital due to low visibility brought about by a thick layer of smog.

The city is blanketed in acrid smog each year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring regions to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.

The restrictions were put in place by city authorities "in an effort to prevent further deterioration" of the air quality.

New Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops world rankings for air pollution in winter.

Cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds worsen the situation by trapping deadly pollutants each winter, stretching from mid-October until at least January.

• Toxic smog smothering India's capital smashes WHO limit