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'This City is Not Livable': New Delhi Residents Decry Dirty Air

Associated Press

   NEW DELHI - Sakshi Chauhan has not left her house in a quiet
   inner-cityslum in the Indian capital for the past six days on her
   doctor's orders.

   The 22-year-old call center operator is recovering from a severe throat
   infection and the thick smog now blanketing New Delhi has made even
   breathing dangerous.

   "The moment I step outside, I can't breathe properly," she said. "I
   have never seen this level of pollution in my entire life."

   The 20 million residents of New Delhi, already one of the world's most
   polluted cities, have been suffering for weeks under a toxic haze that
   is up to 10 times worse than the upper limits of what is considered
   healthy. The pollution crisis is piling public pressure on the
   government to tackle the root causes of the persistent haze.

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