In New Delhi, levels of particulate matter are so high that breathing here is the equivalent of smoking 50 cigarettes a day. In fact (at the time of writing), across the whole of 2021, there has not been a single 24-hour period in New Delhi where the air quality was considered to be at a ‘safe’ level for human health. Cleaning up the air in New Delhi to World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended levels could add an extra ten years to life expectancy in the city.
