大象传媒

In India, toxic air has been choking the capital, Dehli. The pollution control authority has extended a partial lockdown in the city and its suburbs. Schools and colleges have already been closed for over a week and will remain shut until further notice -- and all but non-essential construction work is to stop until Sunday.

The smog is caused by a range of factors: vehicle emissions, industrial emissions such as local coal-burning power-plants, farmers in neighbouring states burning stubble and even fireworks set off during the Diwali festival at the start of November.

Newsday spoke to Jyoti Pande Lavakare about the situation. She's the author of "Breathing Here is Injurious to Your Health" - a memoir on the human cost of pollution. "Your eyes sting, your throat clenches, you get pollution-induced headaches - and these are just the short term impacts of breathing this toxic smog" she says.

(Picture: Delhi shrouded in smog; Credit: EPA)