Photos: Delhi’s Toxic Sky

Alan Taylor
November 4, 2019
20 Photos
In Focus

Millions of people in Delhi, India, and neighboring states are struggling to cope with eye-watering smog that has settled on the region—creating some of the worst air quality in years. Government authorities have declared a public-health emergency, closing schools, halting construction, and restricting cars to an “odd-even” system, based on their license plates, to try to halve the number of vehicles on the roads. The toxic stew filling the air comes from a combination of vehicular and industrial emissions and smoke from the seasonal burning of rice-paddy stubble on farms in nearby states.

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This combination of images shows tourists visiting India Gate in New Delhi on a clear day, November 4, 2019 (left), and tourists visiting the same spot under heavy smog conditions the day before (right). #

Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty

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Toxic smog, which forced the government to declare a public-health emergency, is visible above the old quarter of Delhi on November 2, 2019. #

Javed Sultan / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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A woman wearing a protective face mask waits for a public bus in smoggy conditions in New Delhi on November 4, 2019. #

Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty

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Volunteers stand at a busy crossing in New Delhi on November 4, 2019, with a banner saying "Obey odd and even, remove pollution." Authorities in New Delhi are restricting the use of private vehicles on the roads under an "odd-even" scheme, based on license plates, to control vehicular pollution as the capital continues to gasp under toxic smog. #

Manish Swarup / AP

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Motorists drive through early-morning light smog in New Delhi on October 28, 2019. #

Manish Swarup / AP

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A man sprays water mixed with an ecologically safe reagent on a road to help the precipitation of suspended particulate matter near the venue of a half-marathon in New Delhi on October 19, 2019. #

Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters

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Bangladesh's Arafat Sunny bowls amid smog in New Delhi on October 31, 2019, during a practice session ahead of the Twenty20 cricket match against India. #

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

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Participants run past India Gate as they take part in the Airtel Delhi Half-Marathon in New Delhi on October 20, 2019. #

Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters

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Hindu devotees worship the sun god in the polluted waters of the Yamuna river during the festival of Chhath Puja in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

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Women worship the sun god in the polluted waters of the Yamuna river during the Hindu festival of Chhath Puja in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

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Devotees participate in the Hindu religious festival of Chhath Puja alongside the polluted Yamuna river in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

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Demonstrators wearing face masks take part in a demonstration demanding that the government take measures to curb air pollution in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty

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Birds fly near transmission towers on a smoggy afternoon in the old quarter of Delhi on October 30, 2019. #

Adnan Abidi / Reuters

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Women walk in front of India's Presidential Palace on a smoggy morning in New Delhi on October 27, 2019. #

Altaf Hussain / Reuters

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A rickshaw drives along a road under heavy smog conditions in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty

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Foreign tourists wearing face masks visit the Taj Mahal under heavy smog conditions in Agra on November 4, 2019. As smog levels exceeded those of Beijing by more than three times, authorities parked a van with an air purifier near the Taj Mahal, 150 miles (241 kilometers) south of Delhi, in a bid to clean the nearby air, the Press Trust of India reported. #

Pawan Sharma / AFP / Getty

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A boat sits surrounded by garbage near a bridge along the Yamuna river during heavy smog conditions in New Delhi on November 3, 2019. #

Sajjad Hussain / AFP / Getty

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A motorist wearing a face mask rides along a street in smoggy conditions in New Delhi on November 4, 2019. #

Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty

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In this November 3, 2019, photo, vehicles wait for a signal at a crossing as New Delhi is enveloped in smog. #

Manish Swarup / AP

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Birds fly as people commute near India's Presidential Palace, in New Delhi, on November 1, 2019. #

Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters

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