A country bogged down by smog

Cities across the country reeled under hazardous Air Quality Index (AQI) levels. a day after Deepavali. A scene from Delhi | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP (In the weekly Health Matters newsletter, Ramya Kannan writes about getting to good health, and staying there. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox.)Deepavali, once the festival of lights, is now, in India, completely transformed into a festival of smog. Across the country, cities choked as people burst crackers aided by existing climactic conditions. As a consequence, not just Delhi, usually notorious for its winter pollution, but cities across the country reeled under hazardous Air Quality Index (AQI) levels. Published - November 10, 2026 05:30 pm IST